The  Faith  of 
a  Modern 
Christian 


Papers  by  the 

Theological 

Seventeen 


COLUMBUS,  OHIO 
1922 


//."^.z^. 

LIBRARY  OF   THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

BR    50    .F3    1922 

The   Faith   of    a  modern 
Christian 

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The  Faith    ^.  „ 
of  a  Modern  ChristiafT 

Papers  by  the  Theological  Seventeen 


*' Behold  Him  now  ivhere  He  connes! 
Not  the  Christ  of  our  subtle  creeds, 
But  the  Lord  of  our  hearts,  of  our  homes. 
Of  our  hopes,  our  p^^ayers,  our  needs; 
The  brother  of  want  and  blame, 
The  lover  of  women  and  men. 
With  a  love   that  puts   to   shame 
All  the  passions  of  mortal  ken. 

"Ah,  no,  thou  life  of  the  heart, 
Never  shalt  thou  depart. 
Not  till  the  leaven  of  God 
Shall   lighten   each  human  clod; 
Not   till   the  world  shall  climb 
To  thy  heights  serene,  sublime, 
Shall  the  Christ  who   enters   ou/r  door 
Pass   to  retu7'n  no  Tuore." 

— Richard  Watsoii  Gilder,  The  Passing  of  Christ. 


STONEMAN  PRESS 

Columbus,  Ohio 

1922 


Copyright   1922 

by 

STONEMAN      PRESS 

Columbus,  Ohio 


A  FOREWORD 

The  Theological  Seventeen  is  a  group  of  pastors  of 
different  denominations  bound  together  into  a  fellow- 
ship. It  has  never  become  a  highly  organized  club  with 
rules,  by-laws  and  red  tape.  It  has  always  possessed 
an  intangible  and  vital  quality  of  spirit  rather  than  of 
form. 

From  the  beginning  it  has  attracted  men  of  a  definite 
quality  and  of  a  distinctive  faith.  Its  members  have 
been  men  of  religious  conviction;  dominated  and  con- 
trolled by  Christian  principles  and  ideals,  who  have 
consecrated  their  lives  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
These  men  have,  also,  won  through  to  a  definite  inter- 
pretation of  the  supreme  realities  of  life — they  have 
believed  in  the  progressive  nature  of  revelation  and  in 
the  social  feature  of  redemption.  They  have  felt  that 
science  is  not  in  conflict  with  religion,  and  they  have 
become  convinced  that  religion  has  a  social  as  well  as 
an  individual  message. 

Since  the  outset  the  meetings  of  this  fellowship  have 
combined  social  and  instructional  features.  There 
have  always  been  moments  of  relaxation,  of  play  and 
laughter,  of  friendliness  finding  new  treasures  of  com- 
panionship. At  the  meetings,  papers  have  been  read 
on  topics  educational,  economic,  or  theological,  and 
a  free  and  friendly  discussion  has  followed.  In  this 
simple  manner  the  members  have  experienced  a  ripen- 
ing of  friendship  and  a  deepening  of  faith. 

The  fellowship  has  always  had  beside  its  qualitative 
test  for  membership,  a  maximum  limit  to  its  member- 
ship. And  in  these  two  elements  is  found  the  secret 
of  its  name.  It  is  the  Seventeen,  not  because  there 
are  or  ever  have  been  seventeen  members,  but  because 


that  is  the  arbitrary  limit  set  to  its  membership.  It 
is  the  Theological  Seventeen,  not  because  its  members 
claim  to  be  theologians  of  distinction  or  authority,  but 
because  they  are  interested  in  theology,  hold  that  it 
has  a  message  for  this  modern  world,  and  that  the 
truth  which  it  upholds  will  free  a  world  enchained  by 
old  concepts,  half-truths,  and  new  fancies. 

Last  spring  the  Theological  Seventeen  held  an  In- 
stitute of  Religion.  It  felt  that  the  truth  which  it  had 
gained  through  exchange  of  ideas  should  be  shared 
with  others.  It  even  dared  to  believe  that  what  had 
become  a  supreme  value  to  each  member,  should  be 
given  a  wider  circulation  and  would  be  of  worth  to 
many.  With  that  conviction  in  mind  a  program  of 
religious  significance  was  outlined,  papers  of  half -hour 
length  were  prepared,  and  the  public  in  the  City  of 
Columbus  was  invited  to  come. 

This  pamphlet  is  that  Institute  of  Religion  visualized, 
and  carries  to  a  larger  public  the  faith  and  the  friend- 
liness of  that  fellowship,  known  as  the  Theological 
Seventeen.  It  is  our  humble  contribution  to  the  age- 
long quest  after  Truth.  It  is  also  our  high  conviction 
that  it  comprises  within  its  small  compass  something 
of  the  truth  which  will  make  men  free. 

— E.  F.  C. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Foreword  3 

E.  F.  Chauncey 

Introduction  7 

Charles  Foster  Kent 

An  Outline  Statement  of  the  Faith  for  Today 9 

Burt  D.  Evans 

Modern  Science  and  Christian  Faith  21 

Joseph  A.  Leighton 

The  Christian  Idea  of  God  31 

Irving  Maurer 

The  New  Testament  39 

E.  F.  Chauncey 

The    Old   Testament    50 

Charles  B.  Ketcham 

The  Christian  Idea  of  Christ  65 

Walter  E.  Burnett 

The  Christian  Idea  of  Man  81 

Edwin  A.  Ralph 

The  Christian  Idea  of  Salvation  90 

Gilbert  S.  Cox 

The  Christian  Idea  of  Prayer  105 

Sidney  E.  Sweet 

The  Christian  Idea  of  the  Church  116 

Harold  Cooper 

Internationalism   130 

Oliver  C.  Weist 


INTRODUCTION 

Periods  of  upheaval,  like  the  present,  are  not  with- 
out their  ultimate  values.  They  compel  thoughtful  men 
to  test  and  redefine  the  faith  that  is  within  them.  They 
reveal  the  need  of  a  religious  philosophy  of  life  that  is 
equal  to  every  strain  and  stress.  They  are  also  rapidly 
dispelling  the  apathy  regarding  religion  that  had  set- 
tled like  a  pall  upon  large  groups  of  men. 

The  new  born  interest  in  religion  is  expressing  itself 
in  widely  divergent  forms.  A  period  of  upheaval  is 
usually  a  period  of  reaction.  Many,  as  in  the  days  of 
Manasseh,  are  crying  *'Back  to  the  old  Gods."  "Down 
with  the  prophets  who  would  interpret  religion  in 
terms  of  life  and  deeds."  Fortunately  for  the  courage- 
ous men  who  uttered  the  addresses  contained  in  this 
volume,  the  custom  of  killing  the  prophets  is  no  longer 
in  vogue;  but  the  spirit  reflected  in  certain  public  ut- 
terances and  articles  directed  against  them  grimly  re- 
call the  days  of  the  Inquisition.  One  newspaper  in  the 
city  in  which  the  addresses  were  delivered,  in  its  edi- 
torial column,  refused  to  publish  these  attacks  because 
they  were  so  bitter. 

On  the  other  hand  thoughtful  men  and  women  of  the 
city  responded  in  large  numbers.  Many  gained  a  new 
conception  of  the  religion  of  Christ  and  have,  as  a  re- 
sult, actively  identified  themselves  with  the  building  of 
the  Kingdom.  They  are  but  a  section  of  that  vast 
army  of  forward-looking  men  and  women  who  crave  a 
simple,  sane,  spiritual  interpretation  of  religion  that 
will  be  in  harmony  with  established  results  of  science 
and  with  their  own  experience.   Moreover,  such  inter- 


pretation  alone  will  satisfy  the  demand  of  Twentieth 
Century  youth.  If  their  faith  and  morals  are  to  survive 
this  period  of  upheaval,  they  must  speedily  be  helped 
to  find  it. 

These  addresses  are  well  fitted  to  satisfy  the  deepest 
needs  of  the  present  age.  They  are  the  outgrowth  of 
genuine  spiritual  experience.  They  are  the  fruits  of 
fearless  but  constructive  thinking.  Here  many  will 
find  convincing  reasons  for  the  faith  that  is  within 
them.  They  are  the  worthy  expression  of  that  new 
evangelism  which  aims  to  set  forth  in  the  language 
of  today  the  eternal  and  ever-satisfying  message  of 
the  Master  and  to  carry  that  message  into  life. 

Charles  Foster  Kent, 

Yale  University. 


OUTLINE  STATEMENT   OF  THE  FAITH 
FOR  TODAY 

BURT  DAVID  EVANS 

In  the  realm  of  religious  thought  nothing  is  more 
apparent  than  the  universal  recognition  of  the  neces- 
sity for  a  restatement  of  the  Faith  of  Christendom. 
In  this  respect  two  things  are  conceded  to  be  true: 
namely, — the  inadequacy  of  the  older  presentation  of 
what  has  been  termed  the  essentials  of  Christianity, 
and  the  urgent  demand  that  there  be  formulated  such 
a  deliverance  of  Christian  truth  as  will  express  not 
only  the  fundamental  facts  of  man's  being,  but  will  also 
furnish  an  adequate  foundation  for  a  Gtable  civiliza- 
tion. 

In  a  recent  volume  entitled,  "The  Reconstruction  of 
Religion"  Professor  Charles  Ellwood  says,  **A  crisis 
confronts  religion  in  the  modern  world.  A  new  Re- 
formation is  necessary  within  the  Christian  Church 
if  it  is  to  survive,  besides  which  the  Protestant  Re- 
formation will  seem  insignificant.  Like  all  our  other 
institutions,  religion  is  in  revolution.  Either  some 
new  form  of  Christianity  or  sheer  atheism  will  soon 
become  dominant  in  the  more  advanced  nations,  with 
scientific  agnostic  positivism  as  a  third  possibility.  A 
fourth  possibility,  of  course,  is  that  our  whole  civiliza- 
tion may  revert  to  a  lower  level,  and  that  the  older 
and  cruder  forms  of  religion  may  again  appear  and 
become  common."  That  statement  is  not  the  pessi- 
mistic utterance  of  a  superficial  thinker,  rather,  it  is 
the  sober  judgment  of  a  leading  American  scholar  v/ho 


10 PAPERS  BY  THE 

is  not  only  in  the  fullest  touch  with  the  world  situa- 
tion, but  is  also  competent  to  weigh  the  problem  and 
render  a  sane  judgment  concerning  the  same. 

It  should  be  added,  however,  that  the  difficulties 
confronting  the  present  age  are  not  insurmountable. 
If  met  in  an  honest  and  sincere  spirit  they  may  be 
overcome  and  the  human  race,  instead  of  retrograd- 
ing, may  reach  the  higher  attainments  in  ethical  and 
spiritual  progress.  Therefore,  we  come  with  a  plea 
for  a  more  rational  and  spiritual  expression  of  the 
Christian  Faith.  In  the  discussions  presented  we  are 
only  secondarily  concerned  as  to  whether  this  recon- 
struction will  strengthen  the  various  forms  of  organ- 
ized or  institutional  Christianity.  That  may  follow, 
but  the  real  and  vital  concern  is  that  it  shall  bring 
humanity  a  truer  conception  of  the  meaning  of  life 
and  of  its  relations  to  the  unfolding  purposes  of  an 
Infinite  God.  This  transition  will  not  affect  real  re- 
ligion; religion  is  natural  to  man,  he  does  not  need  a 
priest  or  a  miracle  to  create  it.  Its  extinction  would 
require  a  miracle,  for  in  that  event  man  would  become 
dehumanized  and  lose  his  divine  heritage.  Religion 
today  is  moving  out  into  the  open;  it  is  including 
humanity  as  well  as  divinity  in  its  analysis  and  its 
cynthesis.  That  is  the  fact  on  which  v/e  base  our 
fundamental  appeal.  It  might  be  v/ell,  however,  for 
us  to  note  the  fact  that  the  great  difference  between 
the  reconstruction  that  is  coming  and  the  previous 
landmarks  in  religious  thinking  lie  in  the  difference 
in  the  method  of  approach.  In  our  search  for  the 
spirit  of  Jesus  we  are  moving  away  from  the  proof 
and  the  methods  of  proof  furnished  by  the  ecclesiastics 
of  the  past  thousand  years.     The  present  generation 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 11 

is  approaching  the  problem  from  a  different  angle;  it 
is  endeavoring  to  include  the  various  facts  of  man's 
being  and  development.  This  implies  that  not  the 
future  but  the  present  is  the  crux  of  the  question,  and 
that  this  question  includes  everything  that  pertains 
to  man's  highest  welfare  and  possible  destiny. 

Therefore  in  our  attempts  to  assist  in  the  recon- 
struction of  Faith  we  build  upon  the  validity  of  the 
theory  of  Evolution.  We  act  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  newer  scientific  view  is  more  nearly  correct. 
We  throw  overboard  the  teaching  that  four  to  six 
thousand  years  of  history  will  take  us  back  to  a  myth- 
ical Garden  of  Eden  with  a  future  that  ends  before  a 
Great  White  Throne.  "That  seems  like  a  fairy  tale 
to  us  and  not  a  very  moral  one  at  that.  It  does  not 
satisfy  us  and  there  is  no  use  pretending  that  it  does." 
Those  words  express  our  views  and  we  accept,  there- 
fore, the  more  satisfactory  teaching  of  Theistic  Evolu- 
tion which  begins  with  the  vision  of  an  Infinite  Per- 
sonal Creative  Energy  sweeping  out  into  the  records 
of  time  and  the  confines  of  space.  It  brings  us  the 
welcome  message  of  God  as  man's  Father  leading  His 
children  through  the  mists  of  ignorance  and  the  almost 
defeated  struggles  of  the  ages  toward  the  realization 
of  the  highest  ideals  of  humankind.  We  are  en- 
abled to  believe  thereby  that  "Our  world  is  not 
hopelessly  decayed,  doomed  to  utter  destruction  in 
the  course  of  a  few  days  or  years.  It  is  vigorous 
with  the  splendid  strength  of  youth.  Back  of  us 
stretch  the  uncounted  ages  during  which  star  dust  has 
gathered  together  and  organized  the  marvellous 
symphony  of  form  and  motion.  Little  by  little  our 
planet  was  prepared  for  the  life  which  began  its  won- 


12 PAPERS  BY  THE 

derful  course  of  evolution.  Today  v,e  see  ^;in  just 
emerging  from  helpless  infancy  into  a  real  conscious- 
ness of  his  powers ;  and  before  the  human  race  stretch 
millions  and  millions  of  years  in  which  progress  may 
be  made."  Religion  shares  this  cosmic  movement,  it  is 
not  closed  and  final,  but,  with  everything  else  in  the 
created  universe,  is  evolving.  Consequently,  that 
which  satisfied  the  worshiper  of  yesterday  is  not  suffi- 
cient for  the  growing  spirit  of  man.  The  very  logic 
of  events  compels  us  to  accept  a  theory  that  is  in- 
clusive enough  for  the  demands  of  a  being  created  in 
the  image  of  the  living  God. 

In  the  presentation  of  this  Outline  of  Faith  it  is 
necessary  that  we  differentiate  between  the  essentials 
and  the  non-essentials  of  the  Christian  religion.  While 
the  Church  looks  unto  Jesus  as  the  author  and  the 
finisher  of  her  faith,  it  is  true  that  the  Church  has  em- 
bodied in  the  expression  of  that  faith  many  things 
that  Jesus  never  taught ;  at  least,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  He  taught  them;  on  the  other  hand,  organized 
Christianity  has  neglected  many  truths  upon  which 
He  placed  the  greatest  emphasis.  Among  these  non- 
essentials we  include  the  following :  the  teaching  of  the 
Virgin  Birth  of  Christ,  which  has  insufficient  evidence 
to  support  it ;  miracles,  which  Jesus  always  discounted ; 
the  idea  of  an  infallible  Book  as  the  supreme  court  of 
appeal  in  matters  of  faith  and  practice.  Jesus  said, 
"You  search  the  Scriptures,  imagining  you  possess 
eternal  life  in  their  pages — and  they  do  testify  of  me — 
but  you  refuse  to  come  to  me  for  life."  The  various 
Sacraments  of  the  Church,  well  enough  in  their  place 
but  the  new  age  will  relegate  them  to  a  position  of 
secondary  importance. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVETNTEEN 13 

The  essentials  upon  which  we  base  our  Outline  of 
Faith  are  the  three  outstanding  facts  of  Christian 
revelation :  namely, — the  fact  of  God,  the  fact  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  fact  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Beyond 
those  truths  we  cannot  go;  we  believe  that  in  them 
we  have  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  man 
and  the  redemption  of  the  race. 

I.    The  Fact  of  God. 

In  his  volume  entitled  'The  Idea  of  God,"  Prof.  John 
Fiske  gives  us  his  early,  childish  view  of  God,  "I 
remember  distinctly  the  conception  which  I  had 
formed  when  five  years  of  age.  I  imagined  a  nar- 
row office  just  over  the  zenith,  with  a  tall,  stand- 
ing desk  running  lengthwise,  upon  which  lay  sev- 
eral open  ledgers  bound  in  coarse  leather.  There 
was  no  roof  over  this  office,  and  the  walls  rose 
scarcely  five  feet  from  the  floor,  so  that  a  person 
standing  at  the  desk  could  look  out  upon  the  whole 
world.  There  were  two  persons  at  the  desk,  and  one 
of  them — a  tall,  slender  man,  of  aquiline  features, 
wearing  spectacles,  with  a  pen  in  his  hand  and  another 
behind  his  ear-was  God.  The  other,  whose  appearance 
I  do  not  distinctly  recall,  was  an  attendant  angel. 
Both  were  diligently  watching  the  deeds  of  men  and 
recording  them  in  ledgers.  To  my  infant  mind  this 
picture  was  not  grotesque,  but  ineffably  solemn,  and 
the  fact  that  all  my  words  and  acts  were  thus  written 
down,  to  confront  me  at  the  day  of  judgment,  seemed 
naturally  a  matter  of  grave  concern." 

"If  we  could  cross  question  all  the  men  and  women 
we  know,  and  still  more  all  the  children,  we  should 


14 PAPERS  BY  THE 

probably  find  that,  even  in  this  enlightened  age,  the 
conception  of  Deity  running  throughout  the  civilized 
world  contains  much  that  is  in  the  crudest  sense  anth- 
ropomorphic." 

In  the  Faith  of  today  we  shall  come  more  and  more 
to  think  of  God  as  a  Divine  Eternal  Energy  manifest- 
ing Himself  in  terms  of  human  thought  and  action. 
We  shall  regard  Him  as  the  immanent  co-worker  al- 
ways toiling  with  His  children  rather  than  as  a  sov- 
ereign to  whom  they  are  subject. 

"We  still  say,  *In  the  beginning  God' ;  and  we  declare 
over  against  the  world  as  the  only  answer  to  its  riddle, 
*God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth.'  But  how 
different  our  picture  is !  The  world  is  in  the  making. 
Not  six  days,  but  endless  ages  give  the  story  of  its 
creation.  And  God  does  not  stand  outside  the  world 
as  its  carpenter,  but  moves  in  it  as  its  shaping  and  in- 
forming life.  'Of  Him  and  through  Him  and  unto 
Him  are  all  things.'  The  whirling  electron  infinitely 
small  moves  in  Him.  The  circling  worlds  are  His  deed. 
The  prayer  that  rises  in  us  is  the  gift  of  His  life.  This 
is  the  new  world  that  we  can  only  understand  by  the 
doctrine  of  His  presence. 

'Earth's  crammed  with  heaven. 

And  every  common  bush  aflame  with  God.' 

Day  by  day  His  presence  creates  this  world  anew. 
Day  by  day  His  shaping  power  leads  it  on  toward  its 
goal."  In  this  view  of  the  im^manent  God  leading  His 
children  out  of  animalism  into  saintliness  of  character 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 15 

we  have  a  conception  of  Deity  that  makes  life,  not  an 
accident  meaningless  in  the  scheme  of  things,  but  the 
expression  of  a  divine  purpose  manifesting  itself  in 
fashioning  a  perfect  humanity.  This  implies  that  all 
truth  is  sacred  and  divine.  Whenever  we  discover  a  new 
truth,  whether  in  astronomy,  or  chemistry,  or  electri- 
city, or  wireless  telegraphy,  we  discover  another  eternal 
thought  of  God.  All  science  is  religious  at  heart. 
There  is  no  conflict  between  science  and  religion;  the 
more  science,  the  more  religion;  the  more  religion, 
the  more  science.  Every  man  who  adds  to  useful 
knowledge  is  a  theologian  and  preaches  the  Christian 
religion. 

11.    The  Fact  of  Christ. 

In  the  presentation  of  the  personality  of  Jesus, 
doubtless  we  have  much  that  is  mythical  and  legend- 
ary. At  times  we  have  emphasized  His  divinity ;  again, 
we  I'ay  great  stress  on  His  humanity.  But  why  separ- 
ate Jesus  from  the  evolutionary  processes  of  the 
revelation  of  an  Immanent  God?  Jesus  is  the  Master 
of  life;  He  is  the  crown  of  creation,  therefore.  He  is 
manhood  at  its  best;  humanity  filled  with  the  fulness 
of  God.  We  regard  it  impossible  to  satisfactorily  in- 
terpret the  life  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus  from  any 
other  standpoint.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  see  that  He 
had  other  than  a  human  soul,  intellect  and  will,  and  that 
His  human  soul  did  not  have  a  pre-existence.  That 
which  pre-existed  was  the  Logos;  the  divine  Logos  is 
the  element  of  Christ's  nature  which  is  one  with  the 
Eternal  Father.  It  was  thus  that  Jesus  was  the  Word 
made  flesh  and  it  was  from  His  consciousness  of  like- 
ness to  the  Eternal  One  that  enabled  Him  to  say :     "I 


16 PAPERS  BY  THE 

and  my  Father  are  one."    "He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father." 

In  His  relation  to  man,  Jesus  Christ  expresses  the 
ultimate  human  manifestation  of  divine  and  spiritual 
values.  The  Christ  life  is  God's  method  of  making 
men.  Eventually  manhood  and  Christianity  must  be- 
come synonymous  in  meaning.  The  whole  process 
meant  Jesus  from  the  beginning.  He  is  the  head  of 
the  human  race  and  the  human  race  is  the  head  of  crea- 
tion. At  the  heart  of  the  universe  and  upon  its  central 
throne  is  Jesus  Christ.  Upon  every  part  of  it  He  has 
stamped  the  seal  of  His  power  and  wisdom.  Nothing 
in  the  created  universe  or  in  the  soul  of  man  is  known 
aright  until  His  name  is  read.  Separate  and  apart 
from  the  divine  Word  life  has  no  meaning  and  human 
existence  no  solution.  But  with  that  Word  we  have 
the  revelation  of  the  Infinite  and  the  story  of  His  love. 


III.    The  Fact  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  present  day  message  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
Kingdom  flows  naturally  and  necessarily  out  of  the 
truth  cf  the  Divine  Immanence  and  the  revelation  of 
the  V/ord.  That  Kingdom  is  the  crown,  the  climax  of 
creation  and  partakes  of  the  distinctive  features  of 
the  processes  which  have  preceded.  In  a  recent 
article  Dr.  Frederick  Shannon  has  said  "The  King- 
dom of  God  did  not  begin  with  time,  or  history, 
or  the  Bible.  It  is  as  much  older  and  greater 
than  these  cis  the  universe  is  older  and  greater  th'm 
the  comparatively  youthful  planet  on  which  v/e  live. 
For  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  primarily  of  the  heavens 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 17 

and  the  eternities.  No  seer  first  foresaw  it;  no 
prophet  first  foretold  it;  no  poet  first  visuaKzed  it.  It 
began  first  in  the  heart  of  God;  it  is  the  irruption  of 
God  into  humanity  and  history."  The  thought  of  an 
immanent  God  working  throughout  the  eternities  and 
in  the  centuries  toward  the  establishment  of  that  King- 
dom furnishes  hope  and  idealism  for  the  human  race. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Jesus  made  the  mes- 
sage of  the  Kingdom  the  key-note  of  His  ministry.  It 
was  the  message  that  was  continually  upon  His  lips; 
Jesus  made  very  little  reference  to  the  Church  as  an 
institution  but  He  was  ever  preaching  the  Kingdom. 
The  establishment  of  that  final  achievement  of  the 
human  race  absorbed  His  interests  and  consumed  His 
energies.  His  life,  teachings,  death,  and  resurrection 
find  their  meaning  in  their  relation  to  this  supreme 
purpose  of  the  living  Christ. 

It  is  encouraging  to  note  that  the  followers  of  Jesus 
are  returning  to  this  central  thought  of  the  Master. 
Business,  art,  commerce,  literature,  education,  in  fact 
a] I  fcrnis  of  hum.an  thought  and  action,  have  to  do  with 
that  Kingdom  and  find  their  real  significance  in  re- 
lation thereto.  "With  the  fact  of  the  Kingdom  are  two 
correlated  truths.  The  first  is  that  of  sin,  the  second 
that  of  salvation. 

In  our  efforts  to  arrive  at  a  clear  understanding  of 
the  spirit  and  the  teaching  of  the  Master  we  cannot 
fail'  to  note  His  description  of  and  His  attitude  toward 
sin.  Jesus  announced  the  purpose  of  His  coming  in 
the  words,  *1  am  come  that  ye  might  have  life  and 
have  it  more  abundantly."  Anything  that  interfered 
with  the  fullness  of  life  He  regarded    as    sin.      The 


18 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Greek  word  hamartia  we  translate  sin.  It  means  miss- 
ing the  mark.  Failure  to  achieve  the  divine  man- 
hood is  sinful.  Our  Lord  manifested  manhood  in  its 
fullness  and  declared  that  sin  blasts  the  nobler  powers 
of  the  human  soul  and  drives  man  from  the  Father's 
house  and  the  Father's  love. 

The  apostle  Paul  made  sin  an  intellectual  abstrac- 
tion, a  theological  concept.  He  regarded  man  as  in 
universal  bondage  brought  upon  the  race  by  the  fall 
of  the  first  man.  Dante,  Milton,  Angelo  and  others 
have  embodied  that  teaching  in  art  and  literature  and 
for  more  than  one  thousand  years  we  have  been  pro- 
claiming the  fact  of  sin  from  the  standpoint  of  those 
teachers  rather  than  from  the  position  of  the  Great 
Teacher.  Now  we  are  approaching  the  interpretation 
that  would  bring  us  into  closer  harmony  with  the  ideas 
of  our  Redeemer  and  we  shall  see  sin  as  a  force  blast- 
ing and  blunting  the  higher  powers  of  the  human  soul. 

The  second  correlated  truth  is  that  of  salvation.  The 
battles  of  the  ages  have  been  waged  over  the  meaning 
of  that  word.  The  preponderance  of  modern  thinking, 
however,  regards  salvation  as  a  process  to  be 
achieved.  It  is  not  something  done  for  man  on  the 
outside,  but  it  is  something  done  with  man  on  the  in- 
side. We  are  not  so  much  saved  as  we  are  in  the 
process  of  being  saved.  Furthermore,  the  salvation 
that  God  recognizes  and  that  Jesus  taught  is  social 
salvation.  Separate  and  apart  from  social  redemption 
there  is  no  individual  salvation.  The  fruits  of  the 
spirit  that  characterize  salvation  are  supremely  social 
qualities.  Salvation  is  a  by-product  of  the  program 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  individual  who  gives 
himself  to  the  control  of  the  forces  making  for  that 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 19 

Kingdom  thereby  finds  salvation.  'Tie  that  seeketh 
to  save  his  soul'  shall  lose  it,  and  he  that  loseth  his 
soul  for  my  sake  shall  find  it." 

In  this  Outline  of  Faith  for  Today  I  have  assumed 
the  present  fact  of  eternal  values.  Faith,  Hope,  Love 
these  endure;  that  is,  they  have  lasting  qualities. 
To  build  life  into  the  Kingdom  is  to  be  immortal.  To 
put  into  life  the  fundamental  laws  of  that  Kingdom,  as 
those  laws  are  expressed  in  the  personality  of  Jesus, 
is  to  build  into  the  eternal  order.  The  spirit  of  Jesus 
manifest  in  terms  of  human  living  is  conqueror  of 
death  and  the  grave.  There  is  one  life  and  one  world ; 
we  are  eternal  here  and  now  or  we  never  shall  be.  That 
eternal  life  has  to  do  with  the  transaction  of  business, 
the  teaching  of  school,  the  mining  of  coal,  the  running 
of  street  cars,  the  practice  of  the  physician,  the  mak- 
ing of  treaties  and  the  organization  of  the  human 
race  into  one  brotherhood.  The  Kingdom  is  here,  we 
do  not  have  to  go  elsewhere  to  find  it.  But,  are  we  big 
enough  and  brave  enough  to  enter  into  it? 

And  so  the  essentials  of  our  Faith  are  not  many; 
they  are  plain  and  simple.  The  fact  of  God  as  man's 
Father;  the  fact  of  Christ  as  man's  Redeemer;  the 
fact  of  the  Kingdom  into  which  we  may  build  the  pro- 
gram of  life;  these  are  essential  and  these  only. 
The  men  and  the  women  v/ho  are  greeting  the  dawn- 
ing of  the  New  Day  are  fashioning  civilization  accord- 
ing to  the  heavenly  program  and  m.olding  the  thinking 
of  the  human  race  according  to  the  teachings  of  our 
Christ  as  those  teachings  are  indicated  in  the  real  and 
outstanding  truths  of  His  word. 


20 PAPERS  BY  THE 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I   Believe G.   Stuart  Kennedy 

Social  Idealism  and  the  Changing  Theology 

Gerald  Birney  Smith 

The  Reconstruction  of  Religion Charles  A.  Ellwood 

The  Direction  of  Human  Evolution Edwin  Grant  Conklin 

The  Idea  of  God John   Fiske 

A  Working  Faith Harris  Franklin  Rail 

The  Ascent  Through  Christ Griffith-Jones 

Theology  and  Public  Opinion Bishop  Francis  J.  McConnell 

Those  persons  who  wish  to  know  the  position  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  concerning  Evolution,  the  Inspiration  of 
the  Scripture,  and  the  Virgin  Birth  of  Jesus  Christ  are  respect- 
fully referred  to  the  following  named  volumes  taken  from  the 
Conference  Course  of  Study. 

An  Outline  of  Christian  Theology William  Newton  Clarke 

Studies   in   Christianity Borden   P.   Bowne 

History  of  Methodism Abel  Stevens 

Foundations  of  Christian  Belief Francis  L.  Strickland 

The  Bible  in  the  Making J.  Paterson   Smyth 

Writings  and  Sermons  of  John  Wesley. 

New  Testament  History Harris  Franklin  Rail 

Discipline  of  th>e  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  1920. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 21 

RELIGION  AND  THE  SCIENTIFIC  SPIRIT 

JOSEPH  A.  LEIGHTON 

St.  John  4/21,  23,  24. — the  hour  cometh,  when  neither 
in  this  mountain,  nor  in  Jerusalem,  shall  ye  worship 
the  Father.  *  *  the  hour  cometh  and  now  is,  when 
the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  father  in  spirit 
and  in  truth.**     God  is  a  Spirit. 

On  what  terms  can  Religion  and  Science  keep 
house  together  ?  This  problem  has  been  brought  to  the 
forefront  by  the  discussion  over  Evolution  and  Re- 
ligion stirred  up  recently  by  Mr.  Bryan.  Many,  per- 
haps most  representatives  of  the  Christian  church  are 
ready  to  go  part  way  with  the  scientific  spirit.  They 
accept  the  doctrine  of  evolution  and  claim  to  ac- 
cept the  scientific  spirit.  But  many  of  them  are  not 
willing  to  go  the  whole  way  and  accept  all  the  conse- 
quences of  the  scientific  spirit. 

What  is  the  Scientific  Spirit?  Essentially  it  means 
that  there  is  an  orderly  sequence  in  the  events  of  na- 
ture and  of  human  nature.  It  means  that  everything 
that  happens  is  the  consequence  of  antecedent  natural 
conditions.  It  means  that  the  events  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  past,  no  matter  where  and  when,  were  the 
consequences  of  the  operation  of  forces  similar  in  kind 
to  those  which  can  be  observed  to  be  operating  here 
and  now;  and  that  future  events  will  be  the  conse- 
quences of  the  present  constellation  of  events.  The 
Scientific  Spirit  involves  the  rejection  of  extramundane 
interventions  in  the  order  of  physical  nature  and  of 
history.  It  involves  the  denial  of  the  belief  in  a  God 
who  is  an  external  and  transcendent  artificer  who  oc- 
casionally intervenes  in  an  extraordinary  fashion  at 
critical  postures  of  affairs  in  this  world ;  but  ordinarily 


22 PAPERS  BY  THE 

is  sitting  outside  of  it  busying  Himself  with  His  own 
private  affairs.  The  only  conception  of  God  that  can 
live  at  peace  with  the  scientific  spirit  is  that  He  is 
the  ever-indwelling  ever-energizing  Creative  Cosmic 
Spirit  who  reaches  His  richest  concrete  manifestation 
in  finite  form  in  the  spirit  of  man  at  his  best, — in  short, 
an  immanent  and  dynamic  God.  If  God  cannot  be  dis- 
cerned as  present  in  nature  and  especially  in  human 
life  today  then  there  is  no  good  reason  to  assert  that 
He  was  present  at  the  creation  4004  B.  C,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  solar  systems  several  untold  quadrillions 
of  years  ago,  or  even  in  Judea  about  1900  years  ago. 
The  Scientific  Spirit  cannot  admit  that,  on  a  few  occa- 
sions, or  even  only  once  upon  a  time,  the  natural  order 
of  events  was  suspended  or  overruled  to  admit  the  in- 
rush of  some  so-called  higher,  but  unknown  order.  It 
cannot  admit  that  the  course  of  human  history  was 
cleft  asunder  and  an  extraneous  and  miraculous  por- 
tent intruded  into  the  cleft.  We  have  heard  much 
about  **the  fullness  of  time,"  and,  without  doubt,  just 
as  there  are  Spring  days  when,  under  the  genial  sun, 
there  is  a  sudden  outburst  of  the  hitherto  slowly  ma- 
turing leaf  and  flower,  so  there  are  creative  moments 
in  history  as  in  the  individual  life.  But  these  creative 
moments  are  the  critical  manifestations  of  slowly  ac- 
cumulating forces,  hitherto  unmarked. 

To  be  specific — Jesus,  the  prophet  and  healer  of 
Nazareth,  the  friend  of  His  fellows  and  the  founder 
of  a  new  spiritual  order  was,  both  physically  and 
spiritually,  the  son  of  His  race  and  culture,  the  child 
of  His  time.  Every  great  creative  historic  personage  is 
the  child  of  his  time — is  a  marvellous  concentration 
of  the  slowly  maturing  spiritual  forces  of  the  race. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 23 

Such  were  Plato  and  Phidias,  Shakespeare  and  Newton, 
Goethe  and  Darwin. 

The  conception  of  Jesus  was  transformed  after  His 
death — first  into  a  God  of  the  heathen  mystery-re- 
ligions and  then  into  the  mere  seeming  of  a  man,  in 
which  the  pre-existent  and  eternal  Logos  of  Greek 
philisophy  appeared  disguised.  His  human  personality, 
bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh,  became  a  mere 
veil  to  hide  a  non-human  Deity  who  could  neither  joy 
nor  suffer  as  man,  be  neither  tempted  nor  triumphant, 
love  nor  be  angry,  despair  nor  conquer  through  sub- 
mission and  faithful  endurance. 

Religion,  if  it  is  to  live  with  the  Scientific  Spirit, 
must  abandon  all  claims  to  account  by  miraculous  in- 
tervention for  the  origin  and  course  of  physical  or 
historical  events.  It  must  give  up  all  entangling  al- 
liances with  the  science  of  the  fourth,  the  thirteenth,  or 
any  other  century.  It  must  cease  to  claim  authentica- 
tion from  supposed  past  historical  events  of  a  miracu- 
lous nature.  To  invoke  God  as  its  cause  explains  scien- 
tifically no  event  in  nature  or  history.  For  if  God  be 
really  God,  if  He  be  the  Infinite  Immanent  Spirit,  then, 
since  He  is  the  ultim.ate  ground  of  all  events,  He  is 
not  the  scientifix  explanation  of  any  event  in  particu- 
lar. Moreover  the  fullness  of  time  is  here  and  ncvj, 
wherever  human  beings  are  alive.  If  God  is  not  pres- 
ent and  acting  here  and  now,  why  should  we  suppose 
Him  to  have  been  active  somewhere  else  at  some  other 
time.  Surely  we  need  the  everlasting  arms  as  much  as 
any  Jew  or  Greek  father  or  medieaval  monk. 

What  then  is  the  place  of  religion?  Has  it  any  place? 
If  so  how  shall  we  know  it?  You  see  a  beautiful  pic- 
ture. Suppose  an  expert  should  prove  that  we  v/ere  all 


24 PAPERS  BY  THE 

mistaken  as  to  who  was  the  artist,  when  and  where  it 
was  painted  and  what  the  chemical  constitution  of  the 
pigment  and  the  canvas  were?  Would  that  affect  our 
appreciation  of  the  beauty  and  meaning  of  the  picture? 
Not  in  the  least.  You  have  listened  to  a  noble  oratorio. 
Your  spirits  have  been  calmed,  sweetened,  uplifted. 
Suppose  we  learn  tomorrow  that  our  accepted  theories 
of  sound  and  musical  perception  were  wrong.  Never- 
theless, the  beauty  of  the  music  would  not  be  in  the 
least  affected.  Suppose  you  were  told  that  the  literal 
belief  in  a  Messiah  was  an  illusion,  as  indeed  Jesus 
seems  to  have  told  His  countrymen,  need  that  detract 
from  the  spiritual  value  to  you  today  and  here  of  that 
spiritual  music  which  has  brought  healing  to  your 
souls?  Not  at  all. 

The  physiologist  and  the  chemist  will  give  you  a 
more  or  less  plausible  account  of  the  chemical  consti- 
tution of  your  child,  your  friend,  your  sweetheart.  But 
if  he  gravely  tells  you  that  they  are  nothing  but  chem- 
ical complexes,  have  no  soul,  do  not  feel  or  think ;  are, 
in  short,  mere  simulacra  that  cannot  love,  and  rejoice, 
you  regard  him  as  an  impertinent  pretender  to  om- 
niscience. Let  him  believe  that  of  his  own  child,  friend 
or  sweetheart,  if  he  wishes.  Y'^cu  know  better  in  regard 
to  your  ov/n  beloved  ones. 

No  account  of  the  mechanism  of  the  printed  book,  of 
its  physical  materials  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
produced,  affects  in  any  way  the  beauty,  the  meanin?: 
and  imperishable  value  of  the  poems  or  drama  con- 
veyed by  printed  symbols  from  one  soul  to  another. 
When  the  lover  of  nature  feels  "a  sense  sublim.e  of 
something  far  m.ore  deeply  interfused  whose  dwelling 
is  the  light  of  setting  suns"  or  the  majestic  snow-clad 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 25 

peaks  or  the  smiling  vale  of  the  winding  stream,  the 
geologist's  account  of  the  structure  and  origin  of  the 
nature  he  loves  in  no  way  proves  that  the  nature  lover 
is  wrong.  A  primrose  by  the  river's  brim  may  give 
thoughts  too  deep  for  tears,  regardless  of  its  botanical 
relations.  There  is  a  mystic  sense  by  which  we  feel 
the  presence  of  another  soul,  or  spirit,  in  our  fellows 
and  in  nature.  There  an  intuition  of  life  and  meaning 
in  the  face  of  a  friend,  of  another  human  being,  yes 
even  of  a  crowd,  to  which  the  abstractions  and  theories 
of  science  are  irrelevant. 

The  human  values  of  life,  of  beauty  and  comrade- 
ship, of  friendship  and  human  love,  of  integrity  and 
freedom  in  the  enjoyment  of  personality,  of  the  quest 
for  beauty  and  for  truth,  of  the  joy  of  fellowship  in 
truth  and  in  art,  and  of  that  simple  human  camarad- 
erie of  which  our  American  mystic  Walt  Whitman 
makes  so  much — all  these  human  values  stand  on  their 
own  good  rights,  no  matter  what  their  physical  and 
historical  conditions  of  origin  may  have  been.  Beyond 
the  reach  of  the  scientific  world  of  description,  of 
causal  explanation,  is  the  human  world  of  appreciation, 
of  the  realm  of  personal  life  and  its  reactions  to  its 
surrounding  realm  of  nature. 

When  we  view  the  spectacle  of  human  nature,  and 
enter  into  it  in  sympathetic  feeling  and  thought,  we 
see  that  it  is  in  what  it  yields  of  simple  joy  and  heroic 
endurance,  of  fealty,  love  and  fellowship,  of  beauty 
and  rational  meaning,  that  the  world  gains  divinity. 
Here  is  God  deep  in  the  general  heart  of  man.  He  that 
loveth  his  fellows,  he  that  loveth  truth,  integrity  and 
beauty,  and  comradeship  in  the  things  of  the  mind  and 
heart,  is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God.  The  Kingdom 


26 PAPERS  BY  THE 

of  God  is  the  realm  of  all  things  spiritual — the  realm 
of  all  that  ministers  to  the  growth  in  free  spiritual 
life  of  the  human  soul.   Humanity  is  the  glory  of  God. 

Thus  we  reach  the  foundation  of  religion — in  the 
sense  of  the  presence  to  us,  and  in  ourselves  and  all 
men,  of  that  Cosmic  Creative  Life,  which  is  our  Fa- 
ther ;  which  encompasses  us  and  supports  us  all.  In  it 
we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being.  We  know  this 
Divine  life  in  the  undying  aspiration  of  the  human 
spirit.  It  lives  in  all  beauty,  in  all  knowledge,  in  all 
freedom  and  integrity  and  comradeship  of  spirits.  We 
see  the  Father  of  Spirits  in  the  faces  of  child  and  friend 
and  lover,  in  knowledge  and  freedom  and  loyalty  to 
whatsoever  things  are  born  of  the  Spirit.  For  God  is 
the  Spirit  of  spirits.  He  is  greater  than  any  human 
soul,  or  than  all  human  souls,  since  this  human  realm 
is  but  a  small  part,  howbeit  a  worthful  part,  of  the 
universe  of  spirits. 

Religion  is  the  concentration,  the  focussing,  of  this 
life  of  human  values  into  a  unity;  and  the  faith  that  the 
deepest  and  truest  human  values  are  legitimate  off- 
spring of  the  cosmos,  is  the  heart  of  religion.  The  func- 
tion of  the  Christian  Church  is  simply  to  be  the  power 
house,  the  central  station,  where  the  highest  human 
values  are  unified  and  intensified  and  made  more  ac- 
cessible to  men.  The  function  of  the  church  is  to  min- 
ister as  the  home,  in  the  community,  of  the  values  of 
life.  God  knows  the  world  needs  centers  of  this  sort, 
if  they  were  only  alive  to  their  missions — to  make 
beauty  and  joy  and  fellowship  and  freedom  accessible 
to  all.  The  world  has  gone  wrong,  and  is  giving  its 
organized  energies  chiefly  to  the  production  and  ac- 
cumulation of  things  material.    It  is  the  function  of 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 27 

the  church,  in  the  name  of  its  Master,  to  stand  and 
challenge  our  materialistic,  machine-ridden  society,  a 
society  cursed  with  the  headlong  pursuit  of  wealth  and 
material  power,  with  the  feverish  quantity  production 
of  ugly  things  and  the  stunting  of  the  souls  of  men — 
for  profit.  The  church  must  ask — what  shall  a  man 
give  in  exchange  for  his  soul?  If  it  would  be  loyal  to 
its  Lord  it  must  sternly  challenge  civilization  with  this 
query.  It  was  because  Jesus  fought  the  good  fight  for 
the  soul  of  man,  for  the  simple  and  universal  human 
values,  that  we  identify  Him  rightly  not  only  with  the 
Christian  religion,  but  with  universal  religion.  He 
came  that  we  might  live  and  have  it  more  abundantly. 
For  Him  to  be  a  Son  of  God  in  very  truth  meant  to 
be  a  full  and  true  human  being.  He  came  as  the  liber- 
ator of  the  soul,  of  human  personality  from  the  bond- 
age of  things.  The  world  sorely  needs  Him  today,  to 
liberate  it  from  the  service  of  things,  from  its  bond- 
age to  mammon.  The  church  needs  Him  to  liberate  it 
from  bondage  to  meaningless  metaphysics,  effete 
science,  useless  formulas,  and  burdensome  institutions ; 
but  especially  to  free  human  nature  from  the  service 
of  mammon.  Can  you  not  hear  Him  saying — Woe  unto 
ye  churchman  and  men  of  substance.  For  ye  hold  long 
conventions  and  revise  prayer  books  and  sanctify  out- 
worn institutions,  defending  Greek  metaphysics  which 
ye  understand  not.  But  My  children  are  hungry  in 
body  and  soul  and  ye  bring  no  light  of  joy  or  freedom 
or  beauty  into  their  lives. 

To  sum  the  matter  up.  If,  by  faith  be  meant  the 
preservation  of  social  customs  and  scientific  and  theo- 
logical formulas  that  have  outlived  their  useful- 
ness and  lost  their  very  meanings,  and  that  now  stifle 


28^ PAPERS  BY  THE 

instead  of  nurturing  the  human  values,  then  there  is 
an  irreconcilable  conflict  between  faith  and  the  scien- 
tific spirit.  But,  if  by  faith  be  meant  (and  this  is  its 
true  meaning)  loyalty  to  the  basic  human  values — to 
the  growth  in  freedom,  integrity,  love  and  beauty  of 
every  human  soul — then  there  is  no  conflict  between 
science  and  religion.  For  the  function  of  science  is  to 
minister  to  the  development  of  the  soul  of  man,  by  giv- 
ing him  an  intelligent  mastery  over  the  natural  condi- 
tions of  his  soul-life.  And  the  function  of  faith  is  to 
invigorate  and  unify  the  human  values,  individual  and 
social,  of  life,  by  filling  the  soul  of  man  with  the  sense 
that  these  human  values  have  their  root  and  ground 
and  goal  in  the  Whole — in  the  Cosmic  Spirit  who  thus 
is  in  the  eyes  of  faith  both  the  author  of  Nature  and  the 
Father  of  Spirits.  Since  this  was  the  pivot  of  all  the 
teachings  and  works  of  our  Master  Jesus  Christ,  I  can 
see  no  conflict  between  His  work  and  the  scientific 
spirit. 

One  thing  more — We  have  inherited  a  two-ivorld 
theory;  a  doctrine  that  the  spiritual  or  supernatural 
universe  is  separate  from  this  world  of  nature  and  hu- 
manity in  which  we  live.  This  doctrine  is  attributed, 
mistakenly,  I  think,  to  Plato.  At  any  rate  it  is  deeply 
interwoven  with  our  theological  and  religious  tradi- 
tions. It  must  be  gotten  rid  of.  It  is  not  in  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  science,  and  is  now  a  positive  hind- 
rance to  the  true  end  of  religion — to  the  realization  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  It  is  un-Jesuanic.  Jesus 
believed  and  taught  that  the  Kingdom  was  to  be  real- 
ized on  earth — within  the  souls  of  living  men  and  in 
actual  society.  Human  good  for  Him  could  not  be  at- 
tained by  an  individual  otherwise  than  in  social  rela- 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 29 

tionships.  Jesus  was  a  non-militaristic  anarchist  with 
respect  to  the  political  and  social  order  in  which  He 
found  Himself.  He  let  its  arrangements  and  institu- 
tions severely  alone.  But  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
He  had  no  use  either  for  the  Judean  Messianic  Ideal  or 
for  Roman  Imperialism.  His  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world,  in  the  sense  that  He  would  have  no  traffic  that 
He  could  avoid  either  with  Jewish  or  Roman  state- 
craft. But  he  founded  a  free  society  of  loving  human 
souls  whose  laws  tvere  written  on  the  tablets  of  their 
spirits,  since  their  standards,  aims,  and  motives  ivere 
draivn  from  within,  from  the  fountain  of  human  val- 
ues, fi^om  the  spring  within  the  heart  which  is  the  well- 
ing up  in  the  individual  man  of  the  reservoirs  and 
deeps  of  God.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  a  free  society  of 
integral  and  loving  spirits.  It  is  the  beloved  com- 
munity, as  Royce  puts  it.  We  are  to  seek  to  live  in  it 
and  spread  it  here  and  now. 

The  two-world  theory  is  something  more  than  an  in- 
tellectual obstacle  that  keeps  modern-minded  men  away 
from  Christ.  It  is  the  excuse  for  the  perpetuation  of 
hoary  injustices.  It  was  made  the  excuse  for  slavery. 
Today  it  is  the  port  of  refuge  for  the  defenders  of 
economic  oppression,  of  political  obscurantism,  and  of 
all  forms  of  standpattism.  The  disinherited  of  the 
earth,  the  ignorant  and  the  poor,  the  meek  and  the 
lowly,  the  lovers  of  their  kind,  are  offered  their  re- 
wards in  an  other  world.  Grant  to  the  lords  of  the 
earth  the  divine  right  of  private  property  as  estab- 
lished by  custom  and  interpreted  by  law  which  is  but 
a  generalization  from  custom  and  they  are  entirely 
willing  that  the  meek  should  inherit  the  other  world. 

On  the  other  hand,  economic  and  political  Socialism 


30 PAPERS  BY  THE 

faces  the  imminent  danger  of  the  same  materialism 
that  the  two-world  theory  sanctions.  There  are  not 
two  worlds  but  there  are  differing  dimensions  in  the 
one  world.  There  are  differing  orders  or  planes  of  hu- 
man values.  In  the  order  of  values  comes  first  the 
spiritual  (the  whole  realm  of  personal  values,  beauty, 
truth,  integrity  and  love)  ;  afterwards  come  the  eco- 
nomic and  political.  That  the  spiritual  values  shall 
interpenetrate  and  dominate  all  the  institutions  and 
activities  of  human  society,  since  they  are  the  es- 
sence of  Divinity  and  do  interpenetrate  and  dominate 
the  Cosmos — such  I  understand  to  be  the  heart  of 
Christian  or  Jesu-centric  faith.  It  is  in  this  same 
faith,  that  the  devotee  of  true  science,  but  not  always 
its  economic  exploiter,  works.  When  faith  is  freed 
from  its  entangling  alliance  with  effete  metaphysics 
and  exploded  superstitions,  it  is  seen  that  the  main- 
spring of  science  is  but  one  phase  of  the  orbed  whole  of 
faith  in  the  Cosmic  Father  of  Spirits,  which  is  the  es- 
sence of  religion. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 31 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF  GOD 

IRVING  MAURER 

An  inevitable  process  is  constantly  at  work  in 
our  thinking  about  God.  We  cannot  help  looking  at 
God  through  the  lens  of  our  particular  generation. 
Hence  we  find  it  necessary  to  cast  aside  many  of  the 
terms  with  which  a  preceding  age  interpreted  God. 
We  must  also  expect  that  a  succeeding  generation  will 
possibly  reject  much  of  what  we  ourselves  have 
thought  about  God.  And  yet  we  cannot  evade  trying 
to  put  our  thought  of  God  into  such  words  that  our 
religion  will  appear  a  vital  thing,  living  in  the  air 
which  we,  the  living  generation,  breathe. 

What  is  the  distinctive  aspect  of  modern  life?  I 
may  say,  briefly,  that  it  is  the  thought  of  existence  as 
no  predetermined  thing.  We  have  great  confidence  in 
the  power  of  the  human  mind  to  discover  more  and 
more  about  this  world  and  about  ourselves.  As  this 
process  continues  the  reality  of  a  moral  life  increases. 
What  many  preceding  generations  with  genuine  in- 
sight described  as  mechanically  doing  the  will  of  God, 
we  regard  as  a  much  more  dramatic  affair.  The  issue 
really  depends  upon  us  more  than  it  ever  did.  We  are 
not  impressed  by  the  transcendence  nor  by  the  ab- 
stractness  of  God.  We  believe  that  we  are  ourselves 
sharing  in  the  creation  of  a  universe.  And  the  uni- 
verse is  no  longer  thought  to  be  a  self-realized  thing — 
it  is  a  self-realizable  thing.  It  is  not  perfect — it  is 
making  toward  perfection. 

I  am  not  expert  in  judging  either  the  value  or  the 
falsity  of  any  particular  doctrine  of  evolution.      So 


32 PAPERS  BY  THE 

long  as  the  scientists  do  not  themselves,  in  detail, 
agree,  one  can  well  be  content  simply  to  take  their  con- 
clusions as  a  whole.  The  thought,  that  the  universe  is 
still  being  made,  is  the  characteristic  of  a  modern  age. 

The  idea  of  a  creative  evolution  centers  our  thoughts 
about  God  in  that  element  in  the  Christian  idea  which 
is  distinctively  Christian.  The  thought  of  a  personal 
God,  says  Professor  Williams  Adams  Brown,  comes 
into  Christianity  from  Judaism.  The  idea  of  an  ab- 
solute God  comes  into  Christianity  from  the  Greeks.* 
The  distinctive  idea  of  the  Christian  theology  is  the 
thought  of  God  as  Christlike.  Not  in  a  philosophy, 
but  in  a  life,  in  a  living  personality,  does  Christianity 
find  God. 

This  idea,  that  Jesus  is  our  revelation  of  God,  was 
subjected  to  many  strains  during  the  intervening 
years,  largely  because  it  was  thought  by  believers  who 
looked  upon  the  world  as  static.  The  thought  of  a 
Christlike  God  clashes  with  the  idea  of  an  infinite 
ruler ;  hence  appeared  the  bizarre  contortions  of  Jesus' 
death  on  the  cross  into  pictures  of  a  hideous  God.  But 
today,  with  our  thought  of  a  world  in  the  making,  with 
our  discovery  of  a  process  still  continuing  by  which 
life  is  shaping  new  forms  and  new  situations,  this  idea 
of  God  as  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ  becomes  a  more 
natural  thing. 

Modern  psychology  has  greatly  increased  for  us  the 
importance  of  conduct  as  a  factor  in  the  creation  of  a 
universe.  This  makes  easy  the  thought  of  God  in  the 
world,  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself. 
Ethical  forces  then  become  one  with  the  creative  life 


•Outline  of  Christianity,  pp.   83,  85. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 


of  God.    There  never  was  a  time  more  hospitable  than 
is  ours  to  the  ethical  importance  of  God. 

When  we  say  that  Christianity  teaches  the  Christ- 
likeness  of  God,  we  imply  two  things.  There  are 
thoughts  about  God  which  Jesus  gave  us.  And  there 
are  revelations  of  God  in  the  character  of  Jesus.  A 
modern  world  finds  its  surest  ground  in  the  latter — 
God  as  suggested  by  the  character  of  Jesus. 

In  the  teachings  of  Jesus  two  great  thoughts  stand 
today  as  the  kernel,  the  heart  of  his  message.  First  is 
the  thought  that  God  is  Father.  The  other  is  the 
thought  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  I  love  the  Lord's 
Prayer  as  it  is  given  in  the  gospel  according  to  Luke. 
''Father,  .  .  .  thy  Kingdom  come."  Here  is  stated  in  one 
phrase  the  entire  Christian  doctrine  of  God  as  thought 
out  by  Jesus.  The  idea  of  God  as  Father  is  an  idea  of 
Old  Testament  days.  The  prophets  called  God  Father 
of  Israel.  But  it  was  an  idea  of  a  tribal  God.  Jesus 
made  this  idea  more  intimate.  He  interpreted  it  in 
terms  of  a  providential  universe  in  which  men  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  existence,  in  such  a  way  that  the  per- 
sonal, the  individual  life  is  not  overlooked.  No  care- 
ful student  of  Jesus'  teachings  can  escape  the  con- 
clusion that  a  direct  result  of  his  work  was  greatly  to 
magnify  the  importance  of  the  individual,  by  sug- 
gesting God  as  a  personal  friend  of  the  individual 
lives  of  men. 

But  the  thought  of  God's  fatherliness  was  pre- 
sented side  by  side  with  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom.  This 
was  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  Jesus  to  transform  a 
semi-political  nationalistic  eschatology  into  a  uni- 
versal ideal.  With  Jesus'  interpretation  of  the  King- 
dom went  the  implication  of  a  universal  sonship  with 


34 PAPERS  BY  THE 

God,  and  the  identification  of  spiritual  with  moral  en- 
deavor. In  the  Kingdom  of  God,  Jesus  views  human- 
ity as  one  with  himself  in  sonship  with  a  God  who  is 
spirit,  who  is  to  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

These  ideas  of  the  fatherliness  of  God  and  of  human 
life  as  a  striving  for  a  Kingdom  of  God  became 
vitalized  by  the  spirit  with  which  the  character  of 
Jesus  has  impressed  the  world.  The  prevailing  fact 
in  the  life  of  Jesus  was  his  life  of  love.  He  did  not 
say  so  much  about  the  love  of  God  as  he  said  about 
our  love  for  God,  which  he  identified  with  love  for  all 
men.  The  early  Christian  church  recorded  an  ac- 
curate valuation  of  Jesus  in  words  like  these:  I  am 
the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life — no  man  cometh  unto 
the  Father  but  by  me.  God  is  love.  He  that  loveth 
not  knoweth  not  God.  If  a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar.  For  he  that  loveth 
not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  cannot  love  God 
whom  he  hath  not  seen.  Hereby  we  know  that  we  have 
passed  from  death  unto  life  because  we  love  the 
brethren. 

To  summarize — in  Jesus  we  have  two  great  thoughts, 
the  fatherliness  of  God  and  his  Kingdom  of  love,  con- 
ceived of  as  a  universal  relation,  the  aim  and  goal  of 
all  human  hopes.  These  two  great  ideas  live  because 
of  the  moral  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  life  which 
taught  them,  which  life,  says  the  Christian,  gives  us 
the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

If  there  is  any  difficulty  for  a  modern  man  with  this 
thought  of  God,  such  difficulty  is  apt  to  arise  because 
the  world  has  viewed  this  conception  through  the 
colored  glass  of  an  animistic  world.     We    have   been 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 35 

held  by  the  spell  of  the  Greek  interest  in  the  essential 
qualities  of  our  world.  The  idea  of  the  soul  and  of 
God  has  usually  been  connected  with  the  thought  of 
ghosts  or  shades  flitting  about  in  other  realms.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  early  church  was  living  in  a  world 
filled  with  evil  and  good  spirits  in  this  ghostly  sense. 
The  modern  world  sees  little  in  this  idea.  The  differ- 
ence might  be  stated  thus :  the  old  world  would  have 
said,  God  is  a  loving  spirit.  The  modern  world  says, 
God  is  the  spirit  of  love.  The  old  world  said,  God  is 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  modern  world  says,  God  is  the 
spirit  of  holiness.  The  term  spiritual  means  for  us 
today  moral  and  ethical  qualities.  Immediately  one 
sees  how  modern  Jesus  was.  Jesus  did  little  abstract 
reasoning.  Jesus  pictured  God  as  a  father  forgiving 
a  prodigal  son.  He  gave  us  our  idea  of  goodness  by 
words  like  these:  love  your  enemies,  judge  not, 
blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness. Jesus'  great  concern  was  the  spirit  which 
was  in  men.  By  sonship  with  God,  Jesus  meant  a 
moral  affinity  with  a  heavenly  Father. 

For  the  Christian  this  is  the  important  fact  for  us 
to  consider — the  life  of  moral  goodness  as  the  way  to 
the  Father.  A  modern  scientific  account  of  existence 
does  not  penetrate  this  principle  either  to  prove  or 
disprove,  for  the  last  step  is  always  a  leap  of  faith. 
But  the  modern  thought-world,  with  its  idea  of  an  un- 
folding and  continuous  process  in  the  universe,  is  ex- 
ceedingly hospitable  to  the  Christian  idea  of  an 
ethical  God,  v/hose  character  consists  of  moral  qual- 
ities which  are  akin  to  the  ethical  forces  of  human 
life.  It  is  the  Christian  belief  that  God  is  in  the 
moral  situations  of  life,  that  existence  is  a  drama,  in 


PAPERS  BY  THE 


which  men  are  actually  helping  to  make  the  world, 
and  that  the  spiritual  conflicts  and  achievements  are 
life  at  its  highest  point  and  most  expressive  of  the 
forces  which  made  the  world. 

The  modern  trend  of  thought  about  God  may  be 
illustrated  by  saying  that  today  we  are  making  more 
of  the  ethical  than  of  the  mystical  approach  to  God. 
Our  interest  is  less  in  finding  God  first  and  doing  his 
will  as  a  result.  We  are  more  sure  of  the  purpose  and 
will  of  human  life  than  we  are  sure  of  God  as  a 
creative  factor.  We  realize  that  the  failure  of 
mysticism  has  always  been  the  failure  to  moralize 
itself.  Becoming,  in  its  dependence  upon  God,  inde- 
pendent of  the  world,  it  fades  off  into  sentimental 
moods  without  accomplishing  a  real  success  for  a 
heavenly  Kingdom.  And,  disillusioned  by  the  sorrows 
and  tragedies  of  the  war,  a  modern  world  is  seeking 
for  a  way  to  live.  It  finds  in  Jesus  a  way.  The  im- 
portant thing  for  a  modern  world  is  to  be  traveling, 
testing,  adventuring.  For  many  who  start  upon  the 
way  it  is  as  yet  a  way  in  the  darkness.  When  you 
start  up  Mount  Rainier  you  start  before  sunrise,  and 
then,  when  long  upon  the  way,  you  see  the  great  light 
in  the  skies. 

Hence  the  social  approach  to  God  is  the  modern 
note.  ''Religion,"  says  Professor  Ames,  "is  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  highest  social  values."*  Professor 
Patten  says,  "the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  social  spirit.^f 
This  is  a  modern  restatement  of  the  definition  of  re- 
ligion as  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man.  "Whoso- 
ever," said  Jesus,  "doeth  the  will  shall  know  of  the 
doctrine." 


♦Journal    of   Religion,    May,    1921,    p.    264. 
tSocial    Basis    of    Religion,    p.    204, 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 37 

Christianity  says  to  a  modern  world,  "We  believe 
that  God  is  love,  that  the  love  of  God  in  the  world  is 
the  love  of  man  for  man,  that  this  energy  of  the  inner 
life  reveals  the  world  and  the  universe  more  than  any 
other,  that  the  energies  and  forces  of  our  universe  are 
not  free  from  this  bond  of  love,  that  God  is  a  re- 
warder  to  all  those  who  diligently  seek  after  him." 
The  noblest  incentive  for  unselfishness  is  still  the 
thought  of  the  Kingdom,  or  the  democracy,  of  love, 
the  thought  that,  in  denying  self  for  the  good  of  all. 
we  are  feeling  in  our  hearts  the  life  which  was  in 
Jesus,  and  in  all  good,  unselfish  men  who  ever  lived. 

The  Christianity  of  a  scientific,  modern  world  finds 
in  the  universe  a  moral  purpose.  It  interprets  the 
life  force,  the  source  of  all  things,  the  creative  energy, 
in  terms  of  love.  ''The  universe  which  produced  us  is 
not  alien  to  the  moral  values  which  are  to  our  souls 
the  bread  of  life.  There  is  still  no  better  word  for 
God  than  Father,  and,  if  life  is  to  be  more  than  a  dis- 
tracting jangle  of  physical  forces,  there  is  still  no 
more  helpful  suggestion  of  what  God  is  than  is  given 
by  the  life  which  Jesus  lived,  and  which,  through 
Christian  discipleship,  is  made  possible  for  us  all. 

Christianity  accepts  all  truth  and  insists  that  the 
true  spirit  of  religion  cultivates  the  love  of  truth.  But 
Christianity,  as  it  thinks  of  God,  is  not  delivered  over 
to  a  total  or  complete  adjustment  to  this  v/orld  as  it 
exists.  Its  Kingdom  is,  in  a  true  sense,  not  of  this 
world.  The  forces  which  are  in  our  world  are  also 
forces  which  are  perpetually  changing  the  world  into 
a  newer  and  a  better  world.  In  the  new  volume  by 
Mr.  C.  E.  Montague,  "Disenchantment,"  the  writer, 
for  many    years    a    contributor    to    the    Manchester 


38 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Guardian,  has  this  to  say  about  war  chaplains.  After 
describing  some  of  the  best  and  bravest  of  them  he 
intimates  that  the  common  men  at  arms  were  a  bit 
disappointed  in  them.  This  type  of  chaplain  tried  too 
much  to  have  men  think  of  him  as  a  man  among  them, 
with  *'no  clerical  nonsense."  'The  vigor  with  which 
he  threw  off  the  parson  and  put  on  the  man  and  the 
brother  did  not  always  strike  the  original  men  ard 
brothers  as  it  was  intended.  Your  virilist  chaplain 
was  apt  to  overdo,  to  their  mind,  his  jolly  implied  dis- 
claimance  of  any  compromising  connection  with  King- 
doms not  of  this  world.*' 

This  thought  of  a  heavenly  Kingdom  is  today  the 
great  saving  aspect  of  God,  as  a  force  in  existence 
supplying  at  once  the  energy  and,  the  goal  of  life. 
Without  that  goal  of  moral  purpose  the  scientific 
description  of  existence  would  be  of  little  meaning. 
As  we  think  of  life  we  see  that  God  has  moral  qualities 
which  lift  us  out  of  a  temporary  life  and  make  us 
citizens  of  an  eternal  order.  This  is  the  value  of  the 
Christian  idea  of  God  for  a  modern  world. 

Some  may  say  that  what  I  have  put  forth  is  a  man- 
made  God.  It  is  not  that.  It  is  a  man-discovered 
God.  A  God  of  love  is  still  a  God  who  is  above  all 
and  through  all  and  in  all.  We  need  him  much  more 
than  he  needs  us.  But  he  needs  us.  And  we  are 
more  interested  in  his  character  than  in  his  nature, 
and,  knowing  what  love  is,  even  though  knowing 
darkly,  we  can  lean  on  God,  pray  to  him,  as  one  friend 
to  another,  or  as  a  child  to  a  father,  and  can  go  ahead 
with  minds  unfettered,  and  spirits  free,  to  the  ad- 
venture of  life. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN  39 


MODERN  SCHOLARSHIP  AND  THE 
FOUR  GOSPELS 

E.  F.  CHAUNCEY 

The  Scientific  Study  of  the  New  Testament  has  as 
its  aim  a  two-fold  purpose :  The  attempt,  by  compari- 
son of  manuscripts,  to  free  the  text  from  accretions 
and  additions,  and  to  restore  it  to  its  original  form; 
and,  secondly,  to  gain  a  new  conception  of  the  contents 
and  the  character  of  the  revelations  contained  in  that 
book.  In  both  these  realms  of  effort,  great  discoveries 
have  been  made  and  science  has  bequeathed  to  human 
kind,  through  its  patient  and  painstaking  devotion  to 
truth,  a  rich  legacy. 

The  scientific  study  is  not  an  event  but  a  movement. 
It  is  still  pursuing  its  quest  for  truth,  but  it  has  al 
ready  produced  profound  results.  It  has  revised  the 
gospel  texts,  it  has  given  us  a  new  vision  of  revelation 
and  inspiration,  and  it  has  placed  a  new  valuation  upon 
the  contents  and  the  character  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  old  idea  of  the  inerrancy  of  the  Scriptures,  of  their 
verbal  inspiration,  has  been  disproved,  and  a  new  idea 
of  their  human,  and  yet  of  their  divine  origin  has  de- 
veloped. So  that,  today,  we  are  drawn  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  New  Testament  **is  not  the  words  of  God, 
but  the  Word  of  God."  The  evidence  upon  which  this 
confession  of  faith  is  built  is  varied,  cumulative  and 
profound.  The  process  by  which  this  faith  is  justified 
can  be  easily  summarized. 

At  the  outset,  when  the  scientific  investigators  began 
to  study  systematically  the  four  gospels,  they  still  held 
to  the  theory  of  verbal  inspiration.   But  very  speedily 


40 '  PAPERS  BY  THE 

they  bumped  against  certain  clearly  defined  facts  which 
tended  to  disprove  it.  The  first  major  problem  to  come 
to  the  surface  was  what  is  known  as  the  problem  of 
the  Fourth  Gospel.  When  a  comparison  of  the  gospels 
was  made,  when  the  contents  of  each  were  placed  in 
parallel  columns,  and  carefully  scrutinized,  it  was  dis- 
covered that,  while  the  first  three  gospels  were  per- 
vaded by  a  common  likeness,  the  fourth  gospel  was  a 
thing  apart — totally  unlike  in  its  structure,  its  funda- 
mental ideas  and  its  language.  Here  was  a  profound 
problem.  If  all  the  gospels  were  written  by  God,  how 
could  God  contradict  himself  so  flagrantly?  If  the 
three  gospels  were  correct  in  every  detail,  how  could 
the  fourth  be  equally  correct  when  it  constantly  and 
characteristically  faulted  the  others? 

The  major  facts  which  brought  this  problem  into 
view  were  these :  In  the  first  three  gospels,  there  was 
revealed  a  well-defined  outline  of  Jesus'  public  min- 
istry divided  into  three  epochs.  He  began  His  ministry 
in  Galilee,  then,  very  abruptly,  after  the  feeding  of  the 
multitudes.  He  went  into  retirement  with  His  dis- 
ciples on  foreign  soil,  where  He  remained  until  His 
final  journey  to  Jerusalem.  In  the  fourth  gospel  this 
general  outline  disappears  and  we  meet  with  three 
scenes  in  Jerusalem  during  three  Passover  periods. 
Again,  in  the  first  three  gospels,  Jesus  is  invariably 
portrayed  as  being  very  reserved  in  His  self -manifesta- 
tion. At  the  beginning  of  His  ministry.  He  proclaims 
the  speedy  coming  of  His  Kingdom,  and  it  is  the  King- 
dom that  is  declared  and  defined  through  His  parables 
and  His  life.  It  is  not  until  the  period  of  His  retire- 
ment that  He  makes  Himself  known  in  His  capacity  as 
the  Son  of  Man,  and  then,  only  to  His  disciples.    The 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 41 

general  public  remains  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  al- 
ways. But  in  the  fourth  gospel,  from  the  very  outset, 
He  is  portrayed  as  the  Lamb  of  God,  the  Son  of  God, 
and  is  known  to  be  the  long  expected  One  who  is  to 
be  the  originator  of  the  new  era.  What  was  a  secret 
revealed  with  hesitancy  to  a  few  men,  is  in  this  gospel 
declared  openly  to  all  men  and  understood  by  many 
men  other  than  His  disciples.  But  the  most  striking 
illustration  of  the  contrasts  and  contradictions  is  re- 
vealed in  the  different  poii:rayals  of  the  Master  Him- 
self. In  the  three  gospels  He  is  the  human  Jesus.  He 
is  tempted,  He  has  human  feelings,.  He  lives  in  close 
human  touch  v/ith  all  people.  He  manifests  a  just  in- 
dignation toward  the  pettiness  and  unsocialness  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees.  He  castigates  them  in  severe 
terms  for  their  formal  standard  of  morality.  He  is  at 
all  times  a  man,  albeit  without  the  consciousness  of 
sin.  Set  apart  from  men  only  by  the  mightiness  of 
His  works  and  the  conspicuous  purity  of  His  motives. 
But  in  the  other  gospel  He  is  a  Divine  being  who  is 
gifted  with  omniscence ;  v/ho  lives  His  life  apart  from 
and  above  al^  raen,  who  n?vor  experiences  temp^at^'o:?.. 
and  who  only  once  manifests  the  human  touch  of  sor- 
row. 

Besides  these  major  differences,  there  are  minor  cne^ 
which  can  be  briefly  stated :  In  the  last  gospel,  the  story 
of  the  washing  of  the  feet  of  the  disciples  is  substituted 
for  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  There  are  no 
records  of  such  turning  points  in  Jesus'  life  as  His 
baptism.  His  temptation,  and  His  transfiguration. 
There  is  an  entirely  different  account  of  the  calling  of 
dinciples;  the  scene  is  different,  the  circumstances  are 
different,  and  the  character  of  the  call  differs.^ 


42 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Now  these  differences  are  so  apparent,  so  substan- 
tial, that  they  force  the  conclusion  that  we  have  here 
not  only  two  conflicting  records,  but  behind  the  rec- 
ords, two  opposing  states  of  mind  which  could  not  by 
any  stretch  of  imagination  be  attributed  to  the  direct 
authorship  of  God.  A  God  of  two  minds  would  have 
to  be  conceived  of  to  account,  on  such  a  basis,  for  the 
gospels.  And,  of  course,  such  a  supposition  was  im- 
possible. 

When  the  investigators  came  into  the  presence  of 
this  dilemma ;  they,  first,  developed  the  hjnpothesis  that 
the  fourth  gospel  v/as  written  as  a  supplement  to  the 
other  three.  But,  later,  when  they  began  to  realize  the 
full  force  of  the  fundamental  distinction  it  contained, 
they  concluded  it  could  never  be  a  supplement,  but  was 
an  interpretation  of  the  personality  of  Jesus,  rather 
than  an  historical  portrayal  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  That 
it  represented  a  later  development,  was  written  under 
the  later  influence  of  Greek  thought,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  combatting  certain  practical  and  ecclesiastical 
problems  which  confronted  the  primitive  Christian 
Church  at  the  end  of  the  first  century. 

While  the  problem  of  the  fourth  gospel  was  begin- 
ning: to  declare  itself,  another  problem  came  speedily 
into  view,  which  also  ran  counter  to  the  old  theory  of 
verbal  inspiration.  When  the  harmony  of  the  gospels 
was  finally  achieved,  it  was  discovered  that  while  there 
were  fundamental  agreements  between  the  first  three, 
a  line  of  cleavage  running  through  them;  there  were, 
also,  certain  fundamental  as  well  as  practical  disagree- 
ments which  challenged  investigation  and  interpreta- 
tion. All  tliis  constituted  what  is  known  as  the  second 
m'ajoV  problem  of  the  gb'spels — the  Synoptic  Pr'oblem. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN  43 

The  problem  which  the  scientists  had  to  solve  was  to 
account  for  the  differences  and  the  agreements  within 
these  gospels. 

The  differences  are  so  manifold  and  varied  that  it  is 
impossible  within  the  space  of  this  paper  to  do  more 
than  enumerate  the  more  conspicuous  and  glaring 
ones. 

Each  gospel  has  a  different  dominant  idea.  Mark 
seeks  to  prove  that  we  should  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Son  of  Man, — the  supernatural  ambassador  of  God, 
because  He  performed  miracles.  Matthew  develops  the 
theory  that  Jesus  is  the  Jewish  Messiah  because  He 
fulfills  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament.  While 
Luke  promulgates  the  theory  that  Jesus  is  the  Savior 
of  the  World. 

Again,  each  gospel  has  a  different  outline  of  events. 
The  foundation  is  the  same  but  the  superstructure  is 
different.  So  different,  often,  that  the  same  episode  is 
placed  at  different  periods  of  the  Master's  activity. 
Thus,  for  instance,  the  rejection  at  Nazareth  is  placed 
by  one  evangelist  at  the  beginning  of  Christ's  public 
ministry,  and  by  another  towards  the  end.  So,  too, 
with  Jesus'  castigation  of  the  money  lenders  in  the 
temple.  Did  it  take  place  at  the  beginning  or  the  end- 
ing of  his  public  life?  Or  were  there  two  such  scenes 
in  Jerusalem  at  different  times? 

Still  further,  the  gospels  often  differ  widely  in  their 
descriptions  of  the  same  scenes.  The  resurrection  epi- 
sodes are  familiar  and  forcible  illustrations  of  this 
tendency.  There  are  in  reality  two  different  traditions 
manifested.  Matthew  records  certain  resurrection  ap- 
pearances which  took  place  in   Galilee;  while   Luke 


44 PAPERS  BY  THE 

makes  Jerusalem  the  place  of  revelation.  And  at  no 
time  do  any  of  the  statements  coalesce  or  coincide. 
Mark  is  silent  because  the  conclusion  of  that  gosel  has 
been  lost. 

Beside  these  differences  there  are  others  which  add 
to  the  cumulative  force  of  this  problem.  The  language 
of  the  three  gospels  is  conspicuously  different.  The 
personal  peculiarities  reveal  themselves  on  every  page. 
Not  all  the  episodes  are  recorded  by  each  of  the  evange- 
lists. Mark  knows  no  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Luke, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  portions  of  that  teaching  spread 
throughout  his  gospel,  but  with  characteristic  modifi- 
cations, as  in  the  Beatitudes.  Mark  has  no  birth  story, 
while  Matthew  and  Luke  have  two  differing  accounts 
which  trace  Jesus'  descent  from  different  ancestry.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said,  that  two-thirds  of  Mark  is 
found  in  Matthew  and  Luke,  that  often  two  accounts 
are  at  variance  with  a  third,  that  much  of  Matthew  is 
found  in  Luke,  and  that  some  great  parables  which 
are  found  in  Luke  are  not  recorded  in  either  Mark  or 
Matthew. 

Now  these  differentia  strike  deep  at  the  roots  of  the 
mechanical  theory  of  inspiration.  They  compel  the 
conclusion  that  God  uses  man  as  an  instrument  of 
revelation,  that  His  inspiration  of  Him  is  never  arti- 
ficial, never  destroys  the  personal  equation;  is  indeed 
made  through  human  instrumentation  in  spite  of  hu- 
man imperfections.  Only  on  such  a  basis  can  we  ac- 
count for  the  differentiation  within  the  field  of  the 
three  gospels. 

But,  if  this  is  true,  and  if  there  is  a  substantial 
agreement  in  general  outline  of  the  life,  and  also  a  de- 
tail agreement  in  phrases  and  peculiar  words  running 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 45 

through  the  records,  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with 
another  major,  outstanding  problem.  Stated  in  a  few 
words,  that  problem  is  this:  If  the  theory  of  human 
inspiration  will  account  for  the  differences,  will  it  not 
be  necessary  to  maintain  the  theory  of  mechanical  in- 
spiration to  account  for  the  fundamental  and  practical 
agreements  in  these  gospels  ?  This  is  certainly  another 
problem  compelling  careful  analysis  and  study.  It  is 
evident  that  it  is  impossible  to  hold  at  one  and  the 
same  moment  two  conflicting  theories  of  Divine  au- 
thorship. If  the  human  conception  of  revelation  is  to 
supersede  the  old  theory,  it  must  prove  itself  here  as 
well  as  elsewhere.  It  must  account  for  the  agreements 
also. 

Before  we  fashion  an  answer,  let  us  understand  the 
size  and  scope  of  the  problem.  It  can  be  stated  con- 
cisely and  in  part  certain  facts  have  been  suggestea 
already.  We  are  familiar  with  the  general  outline  of 
the  life, — the  movement  from  Galilee  to  foreign  soil, 
to  Jerusalem.  In  this  portrayal  of  the  progress  of 
events  there  are  portions  in  the  three  gospels  where 
certain  episodes  are  told  at  about  the  same  length  and 
with  a  marvelous  similarity  of  language  which  ex- 
presses itself,  even  in  sentences,  or  phrases,  or  words, 
v/hich  are  exactly  alike.  This  notable  feature  is  re- 
peated time  again  throughout  the  gospels,  and  those 
passages  which  are  in  conspicuous  agreement  are  many 
in  num.ber,  as,  for  instance,  the  account  of  John  the 
Baptist's  ministry,  or  the  calling  of  disciples,  or  the 
healing  of  the  paralytic,  and  pre-eminently  the  stories 
of  the  last  days, — of  the  entry  into  Jerusalem,  of  the 
trial  and  the  condemnation    and    of  the    crucifixion. 


46 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  general  and  a  particular  agree- 
ment among  the  accounts  which  call  for  an  explana- 
tion. 

In  answer  to  this  main  problem,  the  scientists  have 
discovered  a  rational  and  reasonable  solution.  They 
have  agreed  that  while  each  gospel  has  an  individual- 
ity of  its  own,  reveals  the  markings  of  its  human  au- 
thorship, yet,  also  each  is  linked  to  the  other  by  a 
common  dependence  on  some  earlier  sources,  and  by 
an  interdependence  with  one  another.  They  are  not 
separate  gospels  produced  without  reference  to  each 
other,  but  rather  they  draw  from  common  sources 
and  are  closely  related. 

This  theory  is  in  line  with  Luke's  introduction  to 
Theophilus  where  he  asserts  that  with  various  gospels 
before  him,  he  has  given  himself  the  task  of  sifting  the 
material  and  of  presenting  a  thoughtful  and  truthful 
account  of  the  history  of  Jesus  life.  Indeed,  this  theory 
is  backed  by  other  reasonable  deductions.  It  is  certain 
that  at  an  early  date  the  apostles  must  have  treasured 
orally  the  sayings  of  Jesus,  and  also  to  have  preserved 
an  outline  of  His  life.  While  they  were  the  leaders  in 
the  apostolic  church,  there  was  no  need  for  any  formal 
or  written  word  to  supersede  their  statements;  but 
when  they  began  to  be  gathered  to  their  fathers,  the 
church  set  its  hand  to  the  task  of  writing  out  what  the 
apostles  had  handed  down  by  word  of  mouth. 

It  is  difficult  to  portray  convincingly  and  minutely 
the  process  by  means  of  which  the  present  gospels  came 
into  being.  But  their  origin  and  development  has  been 
determined  beyond  question.  First,  in  course  of  time, 
a  selection  of  the  ''Sayings  of  Jesus"  was  compiled. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 47 

This  compilation  contained  some  historical  matter ;  but 
in  the  main  it  coincided  in  its  contents  with  the  so- 
called  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  is  not  strictly  a 
sermon,  but  a  collection  of  the  most  striking  teachings 
of  Jesus.  This  compilation  was  embodied  corporately 
into  the  book  of  Matthew.  In  Luke,  however,  the  same 
sayings,  modified  and  translated  into  more  classical 
Greek,  are  brought  into  connection  with  the  special 
circumstances  which  drew  them  forth  from  the  mind 
and  heart  of  the  Master. 

A  second  early  source  ^vas  an  historic  sketch  of  the 
life  of  Jesus,  which  perhaps  had  its  source  in  the  ex- 
periences of  Peter,  which  Mark  amplified,  extended 
and  explained,  and  which  later  became  the  gospel  of 
Mark.  This  gospel,  probably,  is  not  our  present  Mark, 
but  certainly  approximated  it  very  closely.  This  gospel 
was  used  by  both  Matthew  and  Luke.  This  conclusion 
explains  why  so  much  of  Mark  is  found  in  both  those 
gospels,  and  why  there  is  such  a  general  agreement  in 
outline  and  such  a  specific  agreement  in  detail.  They 
are  alike  in  character  and  content;  not  because  they 
were  mechanically  inspired,  but  because  they  rest  upon 
the  same  source,  and  because  Matthew  and  Luke  used 
it  as  the  ground  work  of  their  gospels. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  there  are  certain 
parables  in  Luke  which  are  peculiar  to  him  alone.  The 
critics  have  attributed  this  to  the  existence  of  certain 
fragments  which  were  available  to  Luke, — who  wrote 
later  than  either  Mark  or  Matthew,  and  which  he  in- 
corporated into  his  gospel.  Thus  we  have  as  the  earli- 
d^  ^otirt^es  bf  thfef^e  gbf^e^s  a  t^olletti'dn  df  thie  ^irigs 


48  PAPERS  BY  THE 

, . 

of  Jesus,  an  historical  outline  of  His  life,  and  certain 
fragments. 

This  short  sketch  of  the  origin  and  development  of 
the  gospels  explains  the  Synoptic  Problem.  It  shows 
that  the  agreements  within  the  gospels  are  due  to 
their  interdependence,  and  that  the  disagreements 
within  these  gospels  are  due  to  the  individual  peculiari- 
ties of  the  minds  of  their  authors.  It  also  disproves 
the  old  theory  of  verbal  inspiration  and  proves  the 
modern  and  scientific  theory  of  human  inspiration. 

It  might  be  asked,  what  is  the  value  of  all  this  re- 
search, this  analysis  and  criticism  ?  What  contribution 
does  it  make  to  modern  life?  How  does  it  add  to  and 
vitalize  the  gospels  ?  Does  it  not  destroy  their  abiding 
and  divine  character?  What  is  the  sum  total  of  new 
values  which  this  scientific  study  has  bequeathed  to 
mankind? 

In  answer,  it  may  be  said,  first,  that  the  old  idea  of 
verbal  inspiration  which  was  untenable  and  also  un- 
ethical, has  once  and  for  all  b3en  destroyed;  and  a 
more  reasonable,  more  ethical  conception  of  inspira- 
tion, w^hich  asserts  that  God  inspires  men,  v/orks 
through  men,  using  them  as  instrum.ents  of  revelation, 
in  spite  of  their  imperfections,  has  been  established. 
All  this  adds  to  the  dignity  and  the  glory  of  man.  All 
this  declares  the  ethical  nature  of  God.  And  all  this 
brings  the  gospels  into  harmony  with  the  facts  of  life. 

Secondly,  as  each  of  these  gospels  views  the  life  of 
the  IMaster  from  a  different  angle,  point  of  vision,  we 
are  given  a  total  view  of  His  life  which  is  greater 
than  any  one  of  the  descriptions.  Indeed,  this  total 
view  corrects  the  partial  and  fractional  aspects  of 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 49 

each  gospel ;  but  also  presents  the  character  and  the 
conduct  of  the  Supreme  Person  in  its  fundamental 
aspect. 

And  finally,  the  scientific  study  of  the  gospels  has  be- 
queathed to  us  a  mine  of  riches.  It  has  given  us  an 
approximately  correct  text  of  all  the  gospels.  It  has 
given  us  an  insight  into  the  times  and  the  thoughts  of 
the  men  of  that  day,  which  has  made  the  life  and 
teaching  of  the  Master  more  real.  It  has  put  His  life 
into  touch  with  the  world-life  of  v/hich  He  was  a  part. 
Above  all,  it  has  made  His  life  more  real,  more  pro- 
foundly ethical  and  more  supremely  religious. 


50  PAPERS  BY  THE 


MODERN  CRITICISM  AND  THE  OLD 
TESTAMENT 

CHARLES  BURGESS  KETCHAM 

Modern  criticism,  especially  as  applied  to  the  Old 
Testament,  has  presented  us  with  a  serious  prob- 
lem, for  it  has  shaken  the  very  foundations  upon 
which  belief  in  the  Bible  has  rested  for  centuries.  To 
our  fathers  the  Old  Testament  was  the  inspired  word 
of  God,  ^'profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  cor- 
rection, for  instruction  which  is  in  righteousness," 
and  that  was  the  end  of  the  matter.  There  could  be 
no  mistakes  for  the  Old  Testament  was  the  product  of 
revelation.  It  was  the  word  of  God  and,  therefore,  was 
true  every  whit.  To  all  doubts  and  questionings 
their  one  reply  was  that,  if  mistake  or  inaccuracy 
could  be  proved,  in  the  Old  Testament,  that  of  itself 
would  prove  that  the  Old  Testament  was  not  God's 
word ;  and  that,  if  the  Old  Testament  was  not  in  very 
fact  God's  word,  as  it  claimed  to  be,  it  must  be  false 
throughout  and  therefore  no  credence  could  be  placed 
in  it. 

But  the  scholar,  approaching  the  Bible  in  a  scientific 
attitude,  cannot  accept  such  a  naive  conception.  He 
does  not  begin  with  certain  a-priori  or  fixed  notions 
of  God  and  revelation  and  inspiration  and  then  reason 
deductively  from  them  what  the  Bible  is  or  ought  to 
be^  but  he  begins  with  the  mad:tBrial  Of  this  Bible  itsi^lf 


TH£]OLQGICAL    SEVENTEEN         51 

and  then  reasons  in  the  other  direction.  He  appKes 
to  the  Bible  the  same  tests  he  appHes  to  all  ancient 
literatures  and  brings  to  bear  on  the  study  of  it  all 
the  wealth  of  our  modern  knowledge  in  the  fields  of 
history  and  religion  and  anthropology.  Then  after  a 
thorough  investigation  and  a  careful  weighing  of  the 
evidence,  he  comes  to  his  conclusions.  Let  us  see  what 
some  of  these  conclusions  are  and  how  they  corre- 
spond with  the  views  our  fathers  held  on  the  same 
matters. 

In  the  first  place,  he  finds  that  the  old  Testament  is 
not  a  unit,  but  that  it  is  the  product  of  many  minds 
and  many  centuries.  Some  of  it  was  very  evidently 
written  before  the  Exile,  while  the  Jewish  Kingdom 
was  still  in  existence;  other  parts  were  confessedly 
written  long  after  that  period.  This  fact  helps  us  to 
understand  some  of  the  wide  theological  differences 
which  we  discover  in  the  Old  Testament,  for  it  is  a 
far  cry  from  the  flood  story,  with  its  picture  of 
Jehovah  relenting  in  His  heart  because  He  smells  the 
sweet  odor  of  the  burning  beasts  (Gen.  8.  21),  to  the 
profound  religious  conceptions  of  Isaiah  53 ;  and  from 
the  statement  in  2  Sam.  24.1  that  it  was  the  "anger 
of  Jehovah"  which  moved  David  to  number  the  people 
to  the  opposite  statement  of  the  author  of  1  Chronicles 
21.1  concerning  the  same  event — that  it  was  Satan, 
and  not  Jehovah,  who  "stood  up  against  Israel"  and 
moved  David  to  number  the  people.  In  the  marked 
contrast  which  exists  between  the  latter  part  of  the 
137  Psalm  and  the  message  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah 
to  the  exiles  in  Babylonia  we  have  another  example 
of  the  lack  of  unity  which  can  be  found  in  the  Old 
Testament,  only  in  this  case  there  is  no  long  period 


52 PAPERS  BY  THE 

of  time  intervening,  for  the  utterances  are  contempor-. 
aneous : 

''0  daughter  of  Babylon,  that  art  to  be  destroyed, 
Happy  shall  he  be,  that  rewardeth  thee 
As  thou  hast  served  us. 
Happy  shall  he  be,  that  taketh  and  dasheth  thy 

little  ones 
Against  the  rock.'^     (Psa.  137.8,9). 

And  now  the  Christ-like  words  of  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  under  the  same  circumstances: 

"Thus  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts,  the  God  of 
Israel,  unto  all  the  captivity,  whom  I  have 
caused  to  be  carried  away  captive  from 
Jerusalem  to  Babylon:  Build  ye  houses,  and 
dwell  in  them;  and  plant  gardens,  and  eat 
the  fruit  of  them.  Take  ye  wives  and  beget 
sons  and  daughters ;  and  take  wives  for  your 
sons,  and  give  your  daughters  to  husbands, 
that  they  may  bear  sons  and  daughters :  and 
multiply  ye  there  and  be  not  diminished. 
And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I 
have  caused  you  to  be  carried  away  captive, 
and  pray  unto  Jehovah  for  it;  for  in  the 
peace  thereof  shall  ye  have  peace."  (Jer. 
29.4-7). 

Rather  more  than  half  the  Old  Testament  is  history 
and,  roughly,  we  can  divide  this  historical  material 
into  three  sections.  The  first  section  includes  the  Pen- 
tateuch, Joshua,  Judges,  1  and  2  Samuel,  and  1  and  2 
Kings,  and  covers  the  history  of  the  patriachs  and  of 
the  Jewish  people  from  the  creation  to  a  point  some 
twenty  or  thirty  years  after  the  Exile,  which  occurred 
in  586  B.  C.  The  second  section,  although  smaller  in 
bulk,  covers  even  more  ground,  beginning  with  Adam, 
the  father  of  the  race  and  extending  down  as  far  at  432 
B.  C.   It  includes  1  and  2  Chronicles,  Ezra  and  Nehe- 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 53 

miah.  The  third  section  consists  of  two  isolated  books 
which  do  not  fit  into  either  of  the  series  just  mentioned, 
namely,  Ruth  and  Esther.  It  is  around  the  first  of 
these  divisions  of  historical  material  that  most  of  the 
controversy  in  the  Old  Testament  field  has  centered. 
On  the  surface  it  appears  to  be  a  group  of  five  books 
by  Moses,  recording  the  history  prior  to  the  entry  into 
the  Promised  Land,  and  then  six  other  books,  cover- 
ing the  remaining  six  hundred  and  fifty  years  to  the 
release  of  Jehoiachin,  not  all  written  at  the  same  time, 
but  all  connected  into  one  comprehensive  historical 
sequence.  But  a  close  examination  of  the  books  brings 
many  doubts  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  traditional  view. 
A  number  of  historical  references  to  events  and  condi- 
tions as  late  as  the  time  of  Saul  demonstrate  that  some 
parts,  at  least,  of  the  five  books  of  Moses  were  writ- 
ten long  after  Moses'  death.  And  it  is  plain,  too,  that 
the  material  in  the  Pentateuch  is  not  a  unit.  To  illus- 
trate: there  are  two  stories  of  the  creation,  varying 
widely  in  order  of  events  and  in  the  nature  of  the  pro- 
cess (Gen.  1  :l-2,  3 ;  2 :4-25)  ;  two  stories  of  the  way  in 
which  Abraham  passed  off  his  wife  as  his  sister  (Gen. 
12:10-20;  20:1-18);  two  stories  of  the  changing  of 
Jacob's  name  to  Israel  (Gen.  32:22-32;  35:9-15)  ;  two 
accounts  of  the  death  of  Aaron  (Num.  33:38-39;  Deut. 
10:6),  the  one  placing  it  at  Mt.  Hor  and  the  other  at 
Moserah ;  two  stories  of  how  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  set 
apart  for  religious  service  (Num.  3:5-10;  Deut.  10: 
8-9)  ;  two  accounts  of  the  expulsion  of  Hagar  from 
Abraham's  tent  (Gen.  16:4-14;  21:9-21)  ;  and  two  ac- 
counts of  the  revelation  of  the  name,  "Jehovah,"  to 
Moses  (Ex.  3:13-15;  6:2-4),  as  well  as  many  others 
which  we  have  not  time  to  mention  here.  In  some  cases, 


54 PAPERS  BY  THE 

instead  of  two  separate  narratives,  we  find  a  com- 
posite account  with  irreconcilable  elements  standing 
side  by  side,  as  in  the  story  of  the  flood,  where  we  read 
in  one  verse,  "And  the  rain  was  upon  the  earth  forty 
days  and  forty  nights."  (Gen.  7:12),  and  in  another 
farther  on,  ''And  the  waters  prevailed  upon  the  earth 
a  hundred  and  fifty  days.''  (Gen.  7:24)  ;  and  where 
there  is  also  a  conflict  as  to  the  number  of  animals  of 
each  species  that  were  taken  into  the  ark.  In  the  story 
of  the  exploration  and  report  of  the  spies  sent  ahead 
into  the  Land  of  Canaan  we  have  another  such  com- 
posite narrative.  But  probably  the  most  striking  ex- 
ample of  the  lack  of  unity  in  the  Pentateuch  is  that  we 
find  in  the  differences  between  sections  of  the  law  con- 
tained in  it.  At  least  three  separate  strata  of  law  have 
been  found,  belonging  to  three  widely  separated  per- 
iods of  Hebrew  history.  This  can  be  verified  by  examin- 
ing the  three  different  and  conflicting  laws  of  slavery, 
the  three  laws  on  homicide,  the  three  laws  concerning 
the  tithe  and  the  three  stages  in  Hebrew  practice  re- 
lative to  the  Priests  and  the  Levites. 

Such  evidence  of  stratification  and  lack  of  unity  in 
the  material  of  the  Pentateuch  can  lead  but  to  one  con- 
clusion, when  considered  independently  and  frankly, 
and  that  is  that  the  material  which  is  used  in  the  Pen- 
tateuch has  been  drawn  from  more  than  one  source  and 
has  been  brought  together  and  put  in  its  present  form 
by  an  editor.  Such  a  conclusion  immediately  raises  the 
question  as  to  whether  we  can  distinguish  in  any  way 
between  the  sources  and  follow  the  editor  in  his  task  of 
arranging  and  combining.  A  study  of  the  Pentateuch, 
with  this  purpose  in  mind,  will  not  long  remain  unre- 
warded.   Wide  differences  in  style  and  material  can 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 55 

very  easily  be  discerned  and  these  will  give  us  our  clew 
to  the  solution  of  the  problem.  In  the  main,  we  find 
three  large  bodies  of  material  in  the  Pentateuch.  The 
first  is  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  which  is  very  differ- 
ent, both  in  form  and  content,  from  all  of  the  other 
parts  of  the  Pentateuch.  It  has  an  atmosphere,  a  style 
and  a  message  all  its  own.  For  convenience  we  call  this 
source  ''D."  After  "D"  is  taken  out,  we  find  that  the 
remainder  of  the  Pentateuch  falls  very  naturally  into 
two  parts, — the  first  a  body  of  simple  narratives,  char- 
acterized by  primitive  religious  customs  and  beliefs, 
which  we  know  as  ''JE,''  and  the  other  a  group  of  nar- 
ratives, characterized  by  very  different  religious  cus- 
toms and  beliefs,  used  to  introduce  and  give  authority 
to  an  elaborate  code  of  laws,  which  presupposes  a 
highly-developed  ecclesiastical  system.  This  last  v/e 
know  as  'T."  The  material  from  these  three  sources 
was  brought  together  by  an  editor,  or  by  a  group  of 
editors,  who  sorted  and  arranged  it,  and  who  modified 
it  here  and  there  as  suited  the  general  purpose.  To 
western  minds  such  an  hypothesis  is,  at  first  glance, 
absurd,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  show  that  such  a  mode 
of  procedure  was  often  used  by  authors  of  sacred 
books  in  the  East,  not  only  at  this  time,  but  also  at 
much  later  dates.  There  are  two  very  clear  and  in- 
teresting illustrations  of  this  sort  of  thing  connected 
with  our  Bible,  where  we  can  actually  follow  the  editor 
at  his  work.  The  first  is  in  the  Book  of  Chronicles  and 
of  it  G.  B.  Gray  says,  in  his  "Critical  Instruction  to 
the  Old  Testament,'* 

"There  is  no  better  or  surer  way  to  an  un- 
derstanding of  the  methods  of  a  Hebrew  his- 
torian than  by  a  comparison, of  correspond-, 
ing  parts  of   dirbnTcIe^   and   of  Sam.ucl   or 


56 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Kings.  The  later  writer,  with  an  earlier  work 
before  him,  was  content  to  copy  out  word  for 
word  passages  of  the  earlier  work  without 
any  particular  acknowledgment  that  he  was 
so  doing;  at  times  also  he  abbreviated,  at 
times  he  expanded ;  at  times  he  introduced 
purely  verbal  modifications;  at  times  he  in- 
troduced modifications  that  greatly  affected 
the  sense  of  the  original."  (Page  8.) 

A  careful  comparison  of  the  following  passages  will 
show  how  this  was  done:  2  Samuel  10:1-5  with  1 
Chronicle  19:1-5;  2  Samuel  24:1-10  v/ith  1  Chronicles 
21:1-8.  The  second  illustration  is  found  in  the  Diates- 
saron  of  Tatian,  which  is  a  story  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
made  up  solely  of  passages  from  the  four  gospels,  ar- 
ranged and  pieced  together  by  the  editor. 

The  question  now  arises,  can  we  date  these  sources, 
even  approximately,  so  as  to  form  some  idea  of  the 
growth  of  the  canon  and  the  date  at  which  the  Penta- 
teuch was  given  to  the  Hebrew  people  as  a  finished 
work?  The  best  we  can  do  in  some  cases  is  to  give  an 
approximate  date  v/hich  wdll  satisfy  the  conditions  re- 
flected in  the  book,  but  for  the  source  ''D''  it  is  possi- 
ble to  arrive  at.  a  definite  date.  It  ivas  the  Book  of  the 
Law  v/hich  was  found  in  the  Temple  in  621  B.  C.  and 
which  brought  about  the  reforms  of  King  Josiah  im- 
mediately thereafter.  The  reasons  for  identifying  *'D^' 
as  this  "Book  of  the  Law"  are  as  follows:  (1)  When 
this  book  was  read  before  the  King,  it  filled  his  heart 
with  fear  and  caused  him  to  tear  his  garment.  In  "D" 
alone  can  there  be  found  warnings  in  number  of  the 
nature  to  cause  such  fear  and  such  demonstration.  (2) 
The  material  in  "D"  is  the  only  body  of  source  material 
in  the  Pdntateuch  sh'ort  enoligh  to  be  read  through  at  a 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 67 

single  Temple  service  before  the  King  and  the  people, 
as  is  described  in  2  Kings.  (3)  The  reforms  which  Jo- 
siah  instituted,  as  a  result  of  the  finding  of  the  "Book 
of  the  Law,"  were  exactly  the  reforms  advocated  by 
"D"  (see  2  Kings  23) ,  while  the  other  parts  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch contain  laws  and  methods  of  practice  which 
are  in  direct  contradiction,  in  many  cases,  to  the  new 
methods  of  procedure  set  up  by  Josiah.  (4)  The  great 
prophetic  personalities  before  621  B.  C. — Amos,  Ro- 
sea, Isaiah  and  Micah — show  no  trace  of  Deuteronomic 
influence  and  make  no  reference  to  the  distinctive  laws 
and  religious  conceptions  of  *'D,"  while  those  who 
came  later — Jeremiah,  Ezekial,  Deutero-Isaiah  (ch.  40- 
66),  and  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Kings — show  very 
plain  evidence  of  Deuteronomic  influence. 

With  this  date  established,  it  is  not  so  difficult  to  fig- 
ure forward  and  backward  to  approximate  dates  for 
the  other  bodies  of  source  material  in  the  Pentateuch. 
It  is  very  plain  that  the  ''JE"  narrative  are  much  the 
older  than  '*D,"  for  in  them  we  find  laws  and  customs 
which  correspond  to  a  state  of  civilization  much  more 
primitive  and  pastoral  than  that  reflected  in  "D.*' 
There  is  a  difference  in  religious  conceptions  also ;  for 
instance,  where  we  find  "D"  classifying  as  idolatrous 
all  sacrifice  and  all  worship  to  Jehovah,  save  that  per- 
formed at  the  central  altar  at  Jerusalem,  we  find  in 
the  ''JE"  narratives  many  instances  in  which  the  pa- 
triarchs built  altars  and  sacrificed  and  annointed  stones 
and  regarded  the  same  as  a  sacred  duty.  Just  how 
much  older  these  narratives  are  than  "D"  we  cannot 
say  exactly,  but  phrases  such  as,  ''Before  there  reigned 
any  king  over  the  children  of  Israel."  (Gen.  36:31) 
and  *The  Canaanite  was  then  in  the  land.  (Gen.  12:6; 


58 PAPERS  BY  THE 

13:7),  show  that  they  could  not  have  been  written  be- 
fore the  day  of  Saul  and  probably  not  before  the  reign 
of  David.  So  we  give  them  the  approximate  date  of  900 
or  1000  B.  C. 

The  source  material  called  "P,"  which  is  a  symbol 
standing  for  'Triestly  Code/'  is  much  later  in  time 
than  "D"  and  must  have  been  written  in  Babylonia 
some  time  between  500  and  450  B.  C.  Throughout  its 
narratives  the  laws  of  ''D"  concerning  altars  is  pre- 
supposed and  the  patriarchs  are  never  pictured  as 
building  altars  or  establishing  high  places  for  the  wor- 
ship of  Jehovah  outside  of  Jerusalem.  In  the  laws  re- 
lating to  the  Priests  and  the  Levites,  however,  *T" 
makes  a  great  advance  over  the  legislation  in  "D."  In 
the  book  of  Ezekiel  we  find  the  laws  just  mentioned 
in  the  transition  stage,  midway  between  *'D"  and  "P," 
and  we  know  that  Ezekiel  wrote  his  book  very  close  to 
570  B.  C.  In  the  year  444  B.  C.  Ezra  brought  about  a 
new  series  of  reforms  in  Jerusalem  and,  in  accordance 
with  one  of  them,  the  Feast  of  Booths  was  celebrated 
for  eight  days  (Neh.  8:18),  as  commanded  in  "P"  (Le- 
viticus 23 :36),  instead  of  seven  days,  as  had  been  com- 
manded in  ''D"  (Deut.  16:13).  Hence  "P"  must  have 
been  written  sometime  between  the  date  of  EzekieFs 
book  and  the  year  of  Ezra's  reforms  in  Jerusalem  and 
the  other  evidence  at  hand  favors  the  latter  part  of 
that  period. 

With  this  hasty,  and  by  no  means  exhaustive,  re- 
view of  the  source  material  lying  behind  our  present 
Pentateuch,  let  us  turn  now  to  see  the  process  by  which 
that  source  material  was  brought  together  and  note 
how  that  process  takes  its  place  in  the  general  develop- 
ment of  a  recognized  body  of  religious  literature  for 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 59 

the  Hebrew  people.  We  must  begin,  of  course,  where 
all  literature  begins,  with  oral  tradition  and  remember 
that  before  there  was  ever  a  book  or  a  story  in  writ- 
ing there  existed  an  extensive  literature,  which  was 
told  by  story-tellers  and  treasured  in  the  memory  by 
generation  after  generation.  Then,  according  to  the 
natural  history  of  literature  everywhere,  arose  epic 
poetry  and  great  occasions  and  memorable  events  were 
celebrated  in  heroic  verse.  Many  examples  of  this 
early  type  of  literature  are  to  be  found  cropping  out  as 
quotations  in  the  Old  Testament,  such  as — the  curse 
of  Noah  (Gen.  9:25f),  the  blessing  of  Jacob  (Gen.  49: 
2-17) ,  the  fragment  from  the  "Book  of  the  Wars  of  Je- 
hovah" (Num.  21:14f),  and  the  songs  of  Moses  (Ex. 
15:1-18;  Deut.  32:1-43).  Then,  after  a  time,  prose 
forms  were  developed  and  narratives,  wherein  the  orig- 
ins of  the  race  and  the  deeds  of  ancient  heroes  were 
treasured,  were  written  down.  Two  of  these,  which 
were  written  about  the  time  of  David,  were  later  used 
as  source  material  by  the  editor  who  gave  the  Penta- 
teuch its  form,  the  one  which  we  call  "J"  apparently 
written  by  a  man  who  lived  in  south  Palestine  and  who 
was  interested  chiefly  in  the  heroes  and  the  history  of 
the  Tribe  of  Judah,  and  the  other,  which  we  call  "E," 
probably  written  by  one  who  lived  among  the  northern 
tribes  and  who  was  interested  in  the  historical  events 
and  the  great  men  in  his  part  of  the  country.  To  these 
narratives  of  ancient  times  there  were  soon  added 
other  books  and  records  which  were  destined  to  be- 
come source  material  for  the  canonical  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  As  examples  of  such  we  might  men- 
tion the  Books  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Judah 
(1  Kings  14:29),  the  Books  of  the  Chronicles  of  the 


60 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Kings  of  Israel  (1  Kings  14:19),  the  Book  of  the 
Acts  of  Solomon  (1  Kings  11:41),  the  Temple  records 
and  certain  independent  prophetic  narratives,  emanat- 
ing from  the  Northern  Kingdom,  concerning  the  ex- 
ploits of  Elijah,  Elisha  and  other  religious  figures  of 
their  age. 

Late  in  the  history  of  the  Kingdom  of  Israel  we  come 
to  the  first  book  of  our  Old  Testament  canon — the  book 
of  the  Prophet  Amos,  which  can  with  confidence  be 
dated  close  to  760  B.  C,  during  the  reign  of  Jereboam 
II.  The  second  book  to  be  written  came  soon  after, 
about  740  B.  C,  the  book  of  the  prophet  Hosea,  who 
also  spoke  the  "word  of  Jehovah"  in  the  Kingdon?  of 
Israel.  In  the  space  of  the  next  forty  years  two  more 
prophetic  books  were  added — Micah  and  Isaiah,  chap- 
ters 1  to  39,  thus  bringing  the  total  to  four  books  at  ap- 
proximately 700  B.  C.  The  next  book  to  appear  was 
the  "Book  of  the  Law"  which  was  found  in  the  Temple 
in  621  B.  C.  and  which  we  know  as  Deuteronomy.  Fol- 
lowing these  came  two  more  great  prophetic  works, 
written  at  the  beginning  of  the  Exile, — the  books  of 
Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel.  Deuteronomy  had  brought  into 
the  religious  thinking  of  the  people  certain  new  and 
very  definite  conceptions  which  in  some  cases  very 
materially  changed  the  estimate  which  the  people  put 
upon  the  general  current  of  Jewish  history  and  so,  dur- 
ing the  Exile,  not  far  from  550  B.  C,  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  people  was  rewritten  from  the  standpoint  of 
Deuteronomic  ideas,  chief  among  which  were  these  two : 
(1)  that  true  sacrifice  could  only  be  offered  to  Jehovah 
at  Jerusalem;  and  (2)  that  Jehovah  always  rewarded 
righteousness  with  prosperity  and  happiness  and  sin 
with  defeat  and  shame.  Thus  Samuel  and  Kings  came 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN       61 

to  be  written,  the  authors  reworking  the  source  mate- 
rial in  their  hands — Temple  records,  prophetic  narra- 
tives, and  royal  Chronicles — according  to  Deuteronomic 
ideas  and  forms.  It  is  probable  too  that  at  this  same 
time  the  ancient  history  was  reworked  also  and  a  basis 
for  our  present  Pentateuch  laid  in  a  combination  of 
'T  and  "E"  with  ''D."  One  of  the  most  notable  of  all 
the  contributions  which  were  made  to  the  religious 
literature  of  the  Jews  was  written  somewhat  later  in 
the  Exile  and  is  now  to  be  found  in  Chapters  40  to 
66  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah.  It  too  was  prophetic  in  char- 
acter. 

About  500  B.  C.  a  new  direction  was  given  to  Hebrew 
religion  by  the  promulgation  of  the  Priestly  Code.  Its 
code  of  law  was  very  elborate  and  it  was  as  distinctly 
an  advance  over  "D"  as  "D"  was  an  advance  over  the 
primitive  system  which  had  existed  before  621  B.  C. 
In  part  it  was  due  to  the  remarkable  influence  of  the 
prophet  Ezekiel.  Sometime  in  the  course  of  the  next 
hundred  years,  under  the  skillful  hands  of  some  enter- 
prising editor,  our  present  Pentateuch  took  shape, 
bringing  into  one  compact  work  the  narratives  of  *'J" 
and  "E,"  the  laws  and  exhortations  of  "D"  and  the 
laws  and  narratives  of  'T."  Later  still,  probably  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  year  300  B.  C,  the  history 
contained  in  the  book  of  Samuel  and  Kings  was  re- 
written from  this  new  theological  standpoint  and  many 
events  added  which  had  transpired  after  the  writing  of 
the  books  of  Kings,  giving  us  the  new  historical  series 
— Chronicles,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. 

The  development  here  outlined  does  not  compre- 
hend the  whole  of  the  process  by  which  the  religious 
literature  of  the  Jews  grew  from  primitive  beginnings 


62 PAPERS  BY  THE 

to  the  fullness  of  our  Old  Testament  canon,  but  only 
the  main  outlines  of  that  process.  For  even  a  passing 
mention  of  the  remaining  books  important  as  they  are, 
we  have  not  the  time  today. 

And  now,  what  kind  of  an  Old  Testament  do  we 
have  left,  when  we  have  made  this  analysis  and  satis- 
fied ourselves  as  to  the  main  features  of  the  process 
by  which  our  sacred  books  came  into  being?  Is  it  a 
wreck,  as  the  literalists  would  claim?  And  has  its 
spiritual  value  for  us  been  ruthlessly  torn  from  it?  It 
would  be  false  to  say  it,  for  there  has  been  nothing 
about  the  historical  survey  which  has  served  to  dim  one 
word  of  promise  or  to  obscure  one  word  of  truth.  The 
Psalms  have  not  lost  one  heart-throb  in  our  study  nor 
the  words  of  the  Prophet  Amos  aught  of  their  power 
and  passion.  It  is  rather  that  some  timid  folk  have 
rushed  unthinkingly  to  the  conclusion  that  when  their 
preconceived  notions  about  the  Bible  have  been  shown 
to  be  groundless  the  Bible  itself  has  been  destroyed. 
Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth.  Because  we 
know  better,  we  can  use  it  more  intelligently ;  and,  cer- 
tainly, we  love  it  no  less.  Its  words  of  truth  are  still  a 
lamp  unto  our  feet  and  a  light  unto  our  pathway.  We 
must  cast  away  our  fears  for  that  which  is  true  is  ne- 
cessarily from  God.  Jesus  said  that  the  truth  could  do 
only  one  thing  for  us — make  us  free.  And  that  is  just 
what  this  method  of  historical  study  does  do  for  us ;  it 
sets  us  free  from  a  whole  host  of  problems  and  makes 
it  possible  for  us  to  live  in  the  Twentieth  Century  in- 
tellectually and  still  believe  in  our  Bible.  By  this  meth- 
od of  study  we  come  to  see  that  the  Old  Testament  is 
the  sum  of  the  religious  thinking  of  a  godly  people  for 
seven  centuries  and  a  record  of  the  spiritual  pilgrim- 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 63 

age  by  which  they  advanced  a  step  at  a  time  from 
their  first  crude  notions  of  God  to  the  moral  grandeur 
of  Jeremiah's  "New  Covenant"  and  the  matchless  vis- 
ion of  the  ''Suffering  Servant"  in  Isaiah  53.  It  is  the 
record  of  the  Father's  progressive  and  creative  revela- 
tion of  Himself  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish  nation  and 
in  the  personalities  of  her  prophets.  In  it  we  can  see 
Him  at  work,  not  in  a  unique  fashion  peculiar  to  that 
age  alone,  but  in  the  same  tender,  patient,  and  per- 
suasive fashion  that  He  still  uses  among  us. 

Our  individual  lives  are  so  short  that  it  is  not  al- 
ways easy  in  a  single  generation  to  see  the  hand  ot 
God  at  work  in  His  universe,  shaping  events  to  His 
purpose  and  civilization  to  His  will;  but  in  the  Old 
Testament  there  is  a  Divine  perspective  which  sets 
centuries  in  order  as  we  set  years.  Seen  from  this 
angle,  the  unchristian  elements  of  the  story  drop  out 
of  sight  and  the  crudities  of  primitive  belief  trouble  us 
no  longer — they  are  but  detail  in  the  process  of  which 
the  goal  is  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Its  pathetically  human 
qualities  make  it  very  real  to  us  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  its  flashes  of  insight  and  its  gleams  of  revelation 
make  it  the  very  bread  of  life  to  our  hungry  souls. 
There  is  a  halo  of  glory  about  the  old  book,  for  we  see 
God  in  it  and  we  rejoice  to  be  sharers  through  it  with 
Him  in  His  vision  of  a  world  made  perfect  in  right- 
eousness : 

"Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  Jehovah,  that 
I  will  make  a  new  Covenant  with  the  house  of 
Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah;  not  ac- 
cording to  the  covenant  I  made  with  their  fa- 
thers in  the  day  that  I  took  them  by  the  hand 
to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt; 
which  my  covenant  they  brake,  although  I 


64 PAPERS  BY  THE 

was  an  husband  unto  them,  saith  Jehovah. 
But  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with 
the  house  of  Israel  after  those  days,  saith  Je- 
hovah: I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward 
parts,  and  in  their  heart  will  I  write  it;  and 
I  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  peo- 
ple. And  they  shall  teach  no  more  every  man 
his  neighbor,  and  every  man  his  brother,  say- 
ing. Know  Jehovah;  for  they  shall  all  know 
Me,  from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest 
of  them,  saith  Jehovah;  for  I  will  forgive 
their  iniquity,  and  their  sin  will  I  remember 
no  more." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Driver,    S.   R. — "Introduction    to   the     Literature    of   the    Old 

Testament." 
Gray,  G.  B.— "Critical  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament." 
Hastings. — "Dictionary  of  the  Bible." 
Large  use  was  also  made  of  the  Class  Notes  on  Lectures  by 

Prof.  R.  W.  Rogers  of  Drew  Theological  Seminary. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN  65 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OP  CHRIST 

WALTER  EVERETT  BURNETT 

My  theme, — "The  Christian  Idea  of  Christ"  sug- 
gests the  desire  and  purpose  to  get  back  so  far  as  we 
are  able  to  the  earliest  and  simplest  belief  concern- 
ing the  personality  of  our  Master.  The  first  fact  with 
which  we  have  to  reckon  when  we  embark  upon  the 
undertaking  is  that  there  are  several  quite  clearly 
marked  historical  strata  of  doctrine  concerning  the 
nature  of  Jesus.  As  in  Italy  churches  may  be  found 
which  have  been  built  upon  the  foundations  of  older 
buildings  which  rest  in  turn  upon  still  earlier  bases  so 
the  doctrines  concerning  the  person  of  Jesus  have  been 
built  up  age  by  age,  each  major  epoch  being  marked 
by  the  effort  of  the  living  generation  to  deal  with  the 
problem  in  the  light  of  the  best  light  that  it  had  and 
by  means  of  the  best  cultural  instruments  at  its  com- 
mand. Let  us  grant  that  this  necessity  to  think  the 
question  through  was  a  fundamental  one  for  these 
earlier  Christian  thinkers  and  that  it  is  fundamental 
for  us.  But  we  must  clearly  grasp  the  fact  that  their 
conclusions  being  conditioned  by  the  relative  adequacy 
of  the  knowledge  and  the  thought  forms  of  their  time 
are  not  binding  upon  us  who  live  in  another  world  than 
theirs  in  knowledge  and  intellectual  method,  and  that 
we  must  think  the  problem  through  afresh  in  the  be- 
lief that  the  centuries  have  brought  new  light  concern- 
ing God,  man  and  the  world  that  enable  us  to  deal 
more  adequately  with  it.  As  we  deal  with  the  great  con- 
troversies of  the  early  church  we  shall  find  ourselves 
handling  terms  that  have  lost  their  significance  for  the 


66 PAPERS  BY  TH^ 

mind  of  today.  But  as  we  dig  persistently  down  to  the 
earliest  strata  we  find  the  purely  theoretical  and  philo- 
sophical factors  in  Christian  belief  concerning  Jesus 
becoming  less  while  the  spiritual  and  ethical  elements 
are  more  pronounced,  so  that  we  come  to  a  statement 
of  the  unique  and  divine  supremacy  of  Jesus  in  terms 
of  spiritual  and  moral  values  that  lay  hold  upon  us  with 
commanding  urgency  and  power.  Granting  this  to  be 
the  primitive  Christian  idea  of  Christ  we  may  then 
make  the  intellectual  venture  of  relating  it  to  our  pres- 
ent day  world  of  knowledge  in  the  hope  that  our  mod- 
ern formulas  being  more  complete  than  the  church 
Father's  will  enable  us  to  deal  more  adequately  with 
this  master  problem  of  philosophy  and  religion,  but 
knowing  also  that  new  light  shall  dawn  after  we  are 
gone  that  will  throw  upon  it  a  still  brighter  illumina- 
tion. 

Christendom  has  worshiped  its  Lord  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years  in  an  intellectual  cathedral  built  at 
Chalcedon  in  the  year  451  by  a  general  council  of  the 
church.  The  issue  over  which  the  theologians  wrestled 
then  concerned  the  two  natures  of  Christ,  the  human 
and  divine  and  how  they  were  joined  in  His  person- 
ality. With  delicately  shaded  phrases  the  thinkers 
elaborated  their  creeds  the  while  there  grew  up  among 
the  people  the  notion  that  the  human  and  divine  were 
not  only  distinct  from  but  alien  to  one  another,  and  that 
an  impossible  gulf  separated  humanity  from  God.  ''The 
doctrine  of  the  two  natures  became  a  principle  of  dual- 
ism which  sanctioned  the  divorce  between  the  human 
and  divine,  the  secular  and  religious,  the  body  and 
spirit.    That  dualism  runs  through  all  the  institutions 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 67 

of  the  middle  ages  affecting  not  only  the  religious  ex- 
perience but  the  political  and  social  life  of  Christen- 
dom." Now  that  has  become  a  strange  language  to  us. 
We  do  not  believe  that  God  is  separated  by  a  great 
chasm  from  His  world  and  from  humanity.  We  have 
no  interest  in  a  discussion  concerning  the  method  of 
union  between  the  human  and  divine  as  two  distinct 
elements  in  the  personality  of  Jesus.  We  find  God  in 
nature  and  its  orderly  process;  we  find  God  in  the 
human  mind  with  its  instinct  of  rationality  and  the 
human  conscience  with  its  ethical  sensitiveness;  we 
find  God  within  the  human  will  and  its  power  to  give 
effect  to  the  mind's  higher  insights.  Whatever  else 
Jesus  was  He  was  07ie  consciousness;  within  the  one 
must  be  found  the  wonders  of  the  divine  interpenetrat- 
ing the  human,  nay  the  divine  as  the  deepest  essence  of 
the  human. 

This  Chalcedonian  temple  rests  upon  a  Nicene  found- 
ation. The  council  of  Nicaea  was  held  in  325.  Its  main 
discussion  centered  not  in  the  two  natures  of  Jesus 
but  in  the  relation  between  God  and  His  Son  in  time. 
Was  the  Son  coextensive  with  God  the  Father  or  was 
He  a  creature  in  time?  The  day  was  won  by  Athan- 
asius  for  a  Sonship  coextensive  with  Fatherhood.  The 
phrases  seem  remote  to  us  but  the  issue  becomes  a 
living  one  when  we  think  of  the  incarnation  in  terms 
of  the  immanent  purpose  that  has  been  implicit  from 
the  beginning  in  the  universe ;  in  terms  of  that  purpose 
Jesus  was  coextensive  with  the  Father,  He  was  the 
Logos,  the  informing  Spirit  of  all  that  was. 

Beneath  the  Nicene  declaration  we  come  upon  a  rug- 
ged beautiful  stratum  of  doctrinal  foundation  in  the 
Alexandrian  Fathers,  Clement  and  Origen. 


68 PAPERS  BY  THE 

These  mighty  thinkers  lived  in  a  world  very  com- 
parable to  our  own,  in  that  wide  ranges  of  human  be- 
lief demanded  a  comprehensive  principle  of  interpre- 
tation and  conciliation.  Origen  agreed  with  the  Neo- 
Platonists  whose  object  was  to  create  an  eclectic  sys- 
tem in  which  all  forms  of  philosophy  and  religion  might 
be  harmonized.  In  all  his  thinking,  however,  he  rests 
upon  the  Christian  revelation  and  brings  out  the  truth 
of  the  incarnation  as  that  which  can  alone  meet  the 
needs  of  speculative  inquiry  or  the  wants  of  the  relig- 
ious life.  The  problem  of  the  time  was  no  other  than 
to  bind  together  in  organic  unity  the  world  and  God, — 
to  overcome  the  separation  derived  from  oriental  the- 
osophies  which  was  exerting  its  influence  upon  Greek 
philosophy  as  well  as  upon  Christian  thought.  The 
dying  words  of  Plotinus  have  ever  been  quoted  as  the 
ruling  idea  of  his  philosophy:  "I  am  striving  to  bring 
the  God  which  is  in  me  into  harmony  with  the  God 
which  is  in  the  universe."  The  main  difference  between 
the  Christian  thinker  and  the  pagan  philosopher  lay 
in  this :  that  the  one  started  with  the  conviction  of  the 
divine  immanence  in  the  world  and  in  humanity,  while 
the  other  could  not  escape  from  the  notion  of  God  as 
primarily  existing  at  an  infinite  distance,  in  an  abso- 
lute isolation  from  the  world.  One  can  not  say  that 
Origen  was  perfectly  consistent  in  his  thinking.  At 
times  heathen  thought  seemed  to  influence  him  strongly 
but  he  never  yields  his  conviction  of  the  indwelling 
God  as  revealed  in  Christ.  His  contribution  toward 
the  great  question  of  his  age  was  of  the  highest  value 
to  all  who  followed  him.  He  endeavored  to  bind  to- 
gether Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit  in  a  necessary 
organic  communion  and  fellowship.   The  result  of  the 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 69 

heathen  belief  invading  the  church  was  not  only  to 
separate  God  from  man,  but  to  separate  also  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son;  to  reduce  Christ  to  the  rank 
of  creatures  brought  into  existence  by  the  absolute  will. 
In  the  doctrine  of  the  eternal  generation  of  the  Son, 
Origen  was  resisting  the  heathen  principle  which 
makes  God  the  absolute  incommunicable  Deity. 

From  all  eternity,  so  Origen  reasoned,  by  a  neces- 
sary law  of  His  being,  God  communicates  Himself  to 
the  Son, — the  light  which  is  the  life  and  blessedness  of 
the  whole  creation  goes  forth  eternally  from  the  source 
of  light,  as  the  rays  go  forth  from  the  sun.  To  exist 
in  relationship  is  the  essential  idea  of  God.  To  think 
otherwise  would  be  to  rob  Deity  of  His  true  glory.  If 
He  existed  alone  in  simple  unity  and  solitary  grandeur, 
apart  from  some  object  upon  which  from  all  eternity 
to  expend  His  love,  then  He  was  not  from  all  eternity 
God  the  Father. 

This  brief  reference  will  indicate  how  fundament- 
ally and  yet  how  simply  these  two  master  minds  inter- 
pret Christ  to  be  the  fulfillment  of  the  indwelling 
creative  life  of  God.  There  was  no  sundering  of  the 
human  from  the  Divine  world ;  no  sharp  cutting  as  by 
a  knife  of  the  nature  of  Jesus  into  two  parts. 

To  bathe  our  minds  in  so  rich  a  stream  of  Christian 
thinking  prepares  us  to  pass  into  the  Gospels  and  find 
what  we  may  there,  before  the  philosophic  mind  had 
worked  to  any  large  extent  upon  the  problem.  Not 
that  they  are  wholly  free  from  the  philosophic  trend. 
It  is  a  commonplace  that  the  Fourth  Gospel  places 
Jesus  against  a  philosophic  background; — He  is  the 
manifestation  of  the  Indwelling  Word.  The  thinkers 
of  that  day  would  understand  that.     It  gives  the  In- 


70 PAPERS  BY  THE 

comparable  Figure  an  organic  place  in  the  world 
order.  He  is  the  consummation  of  its  deep  spiritual 
trend;  He  is  the  climax  of  creation. 

But  simpler  than  this  is  the  original  Christian  con- 
viction. We  may  take  that  amplified  declaration 
which  probably  comes  as  near  as  anything  recorded  to 
expressing  how  the  early  Christians  felt  about  Jesus: 
— "Jesus  of  Nazareth  a  man  approved  of  God  unto  you 
by  mighty  works  and  wonders  and  signs  which  God 
did  by  Him  in  the  midst  of  you,  even  as  you  yourselves 
know;  Him  being  delivered  up  by  the  determinate 
counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God  ye  by  the  hand  of 
men  without  the  law  did  crucify  and  slay ;  whom  God 

raised  up  having  loosed  the  pangs    of  death 

Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  therefore  know  assuredly 
that  God  hath  made  Him  both  Lord  and  Christ,  this 
Jesus  Whom  ye  crucified.** 

Several  considerations  besides  these  simple  facts 
must  be  kept  in  mind.  First  of  all  we  must  remem- 
ber the  overwhelming  impression  of  the  God-like 
character  of  Jesus  upon  His  disciples.  The  declaration 
speaks  of  the  mighty  works,  but  we  have  evidence 
enough  to  show  that  Jesus  placed  the  emphasis  else- 
where than  in  signs  and  wonders.  If  they  had  found 
a  flaw  in  Him,  if  His  character  had  been  streaked 
with  self  seeking,  He  could  never  have  been  their 
Lord.  He  was  in  simple  truth  the  incarnation  of  all 
they  had  been  taught  to  think  about  God  in  His  es- 
sential nature.  In  a  living  human  Friend  they  found 
Holiness  incarnate,  Love  personified,  and  as  the  revela- 
tion grew  it  awed  them.  'Thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  Living  God."  Another  truth  must  be  read 
between  the  lines  of  that  early  confession    of   faith 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 71 

God  had  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead.  The  impres- 
sion that  the  early  Christians  had  of  the  Risen 
Christ  can  never  be  separated  from  that  vivid  and 
thrilling  sense  that  came  to  them  at  Pentecost  of  the 
reality  of  the  Spirit  and  of  the  Inner  World  in  which 
Jesus  v^as  eternal  Lord.  Paul's  description  of  the 
Master's  resurrection  appearance  to  Him  uses  these 
glowing  terms  of  a  spiritual  apprehension. 

Are  we  not  ready  to  ask  what  Jesus  said  about  Him- 
self? *'I  and  my  Father  are  one"  He  said.  "He  that 
hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father."  In  the  deep 
sanctities  of  an  inviolable  conscience,  a  dedicated 
spirit,  an  utterly  obedient  will  He  located  the  bond  of 
intimate  union  with  the  Father  and  intimated  its 
essential  character.  Let  us  be  content  to  leave  it 
there.  Let  us  behold  His  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the 
Only  Begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth. 
Freed  from  curious  matters  of  theory  and  intricate 
metaphysical  subtleties  we  may  well  bow  before  our 
Radiant  Lord,  for  ''God  Who  commanded  the  Light  to 
shine  out  of  darkness  hath  shone  in  our  hearts  to  bring 
the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
face  of  Jesus  Christ." 

I  cannot  treat  of  the  Christian  idea  of  Christ  and 
leave  out  all  reference  to  the  Virgin  Birth.  One  can- 
not deal  intelligently  with  that  belief  without  con- 
sidering the  fragmentary  character  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment references  to  it.  And  one  must  attach  some 
weight  to  such  scholars  as  Hamack  who  are  convinced 
that  it  formed  no  part  of  the  earliest  tradition.  But 
weightier  than  either  of  these  is  the  consideration 
that  a  stupendous  spiritual  declaration  such  as  the 
eternal  Lordship  of  Jesus  can  scarcely  hang  upon  any 


72 PAPERS  BY  THE 

physical  fact  of  any  nature  whatsoever.  The  im- 
plications are  too  vast,  the  issues  are  too  immense  to 
hang  upon  a  single  physical  incident,  and  that  one 
that  seems  to  run  counter  to  the  established  order  of 
nature.  This  sublime  doctrine  can  hold  its  place  in 
human  thinking  securely  only  as  it  is  found  grounded 
in  the  v^hole  spiritual  order,  and  to  thrust  its  roots 
down  to  the  profoundest  levels  of  truth.  It  is  that 
kind  of  a  foundation  that  modern  thinking  lays  for 
the  central  Christian  doctrine.  It  is  to  be  kept  in 
mind  however  that  one  does  not  deny  the  virgin  birth 
by  insisting  that  it  is  not  the  rock-foundation  for  be- 
lief in  the  Eternal  Lordship  of  the  Master. 

We  come  now  to  the  content  of  that  Personality 
which  has  mastered  the  conscience  and  captured  the 
imagination  of  humanity.  Of  course  we  cannot 
separate  Jesus  from  His  race,  nor  can  we  separate 
Him  from  that  royal  line  of  spiritual  seers  who  gave  to 
the  world  the  matchless  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. He  fed  upon  these  writings.  In  His  mind 
their  loftiest  truths  burst  into  a  finer  efflorescence. 
They  spoke  of  God  the  Father,  of  His  holiness  and 
love,  of  an  order  of  justice  and  humanness,  of  vicari- 
ous sufferers  who,  blameless  themselves  yet  bore  the 
cruel  penalties  for  others  misdeeds.  All  that  they 
taught  and  more.  He  lived.  His  Father's  presence 
was  the  vital  air  of  His  daily  existence ;  God's  love  was 
His  secure  shelter  from  life's  stern  buffetings,  the 
divine  tenderness  glorified  in  His  mind  and  heart  every 
human  being  however  warped  or  lowly,  while  it  kind- 
led his  redemptive  zeal  into  a  quivering  passion;  the 
new  order  of  mutual  reverence  and  helpfulness  dis- 
placing the  old  brutal  riot  of  selfishness  and  lust  as 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 73 

cultivated  gardens  displace  a  howling  jungle,  was  as 
real  to  him  as  the  physical  order  in  which  the  sun 
wheels  its  way  through  the  heavens  and  the  stars  shed 
their  mild  radiance  through  the  night.  He  was  the 
perfect  Servant  of  the  new  order  in  that  He  shrank 
not  from  men's  misunderstandings  of  it  and  their 
hatred  of  it,  but  invested  Himself  to  serve  His  living 
fellows  and  the  unborn  generations  to  the  end  of  time 
by  demonstrating  what  a  redemptive  and  spiritually 
creative  life  should  be  like. 

The  question  inevitably  arises  as  to  the  validity  of 
these  ideals  today.  Here  they  are  launched  unto  his- 
tory,— as  real  an  element  in  the  human  scene  as  moun- 
tains and  seas.  Do  they  meet  human  needs  noiu,  do 
they  offer  adjustments  that  make  life  saner  and  richer 
for  human  beings  in  this  modern  day?  Surely  the 
need  is  no  less  now  than  in  olden  days  that  human 
hope  should  be  sustained  by  faith  that  love  is  behind 
and  within  the  scheme  of  things  and  that  it  is  work- 
ing by  intelligent  methods  toward  a  lofty  goal.  Men 
are  not  animals  that  they  should  browse  through  their 
little  day  content  v/ith  fcod  and  drink.  They  are  torn 
by  questionings;  like  Prcnietheus  they  lie  chained  to 
the  rocks  vdiile  winged  imxaginings  gnaw  at  their 
vitals.  Life  v/ould  become  meagre  and  pitiable  but 
for  the  sublime  ideals  that  lure  the  mind  to  expect- 
ancy w^hile  they  sustain  heroic  endeavors.  God  is  the 
soul's  star,  the  mind's  necessary  food. 

And  belief  in  a  loving  Father  is  no  less  necessary 
for  the  healing  of  a  self  accusing  conscience.  That 
is  the  true  light  which  lighteth  ever>"  man, — but  its 
rays  disclose  many  unlovely  things.  New  standards 
come  into  view  which  make  old  selfishness  seem  u:^'ly. 


74 PAPERS  BY  THE 

What  can  sustain  the  spirit  in  its  battle  with  the  lower 
self  but  a  calm  sure  faith  in  God's  good  will  and  His 
great  purpose  to  lift  every  sincere  spirit  to  the  heights 
of  manhood. 

We  have  tapped  a  fresh  vein  of  power  today  by 
thinking  of  this  loving  Father  not  as  wholly  exterior 
to  our  own  lives,  but  as  weaving  His  own  Being 
mysteriously  into  the  very  fibres  of  our  own  human 
lives.  Not  by  abasement  of  self  but  by  assertion  of 
our  noblest  selves  do  w^e  avail  ourselves  of  the  love  of 
God.  That  love  is  not  a  good  will  directed  from  with- 
out toward  us,  it  is  a  stream  of  power  making  for 
sound  strong  personality  within  us.  Our  best  im- 
pulses are  to  be  interpreted  in  no  less  wondrous  terms 
than  as  the  life  of  the  eternal  God  seeking  to  express 
himself  afresh  through  the  personalities  of  His  Sons 
and  Daughters.  There  is  a  dignity  here  that  has 
mighty  power  to  break  old  shackles  from  a  human 
mind  and  set  it  free. 

Who  can  describe  the  charm  or  measure  the  power 
of  the  Kingdom  idea  in  human  thinking  today?  We 
observe  the  world  in  tumult.  Ancient  tyrannies  are 
crumbling  under  a  fierce  nev/  pressure  from  below. 
The  masses  have  awakened;  they  have  found  their 
strength.  Privileges,  rights  and  authorities  are  being 
tested  in  the  terrific  heat  of  a  passionate  sense  of  the 
big  human  values.  The  common  man  is  King.  On  a 
score  of  fronts  the  world  over  the  war  is  waging  for 
larger  rights  for  the  common  people.  It  is  a  grim 
and  bloody  fight,  with  many  a  brutal  lapse  from  the 
rules  of  the  game  on  both  sides,  but  the  heart  of  the 
struggle  is  the  protest  against  human  exploitation, 
the  demand  that  every  life  shall  have  a  chance  to  de- 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVE'NTEEN 75 

velop  its  powers  to  the  utmost.  Insomuch  it  is  the 
strong  leaven  of  the  Kingdom  that  is  at  work;  it  is 
the  yeasty  ferment  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Jesus  that 
is  bursting  the  old  forms  asunder.  Who  can  not 
mark  the  signs  of  its  coming?  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd 
asserts  that  a  new  process  in  social  evolution  can  be 
seen  to  have  started  with  the  Advent  of  Jesus  Christ, 
viz.,  the  sacrifice  of  the  present  for  the  sake  of  the 
future,  which  apart  from  Christianity  has  no  rational 
sanction  whatsoever.  This  revolution  in  the  moral 
history  of  the  world,  he  says,  has  obtained  a  practical 
recognition  in  the  consciousness  of  civilized  humanity 
through  the  doctrine  and  influence  of  Jesus  Christ. 
**We  see  the  Hebrew  spirit,"  so  he  writes,  "rising  in 
superior  and  eloquent  scorn  to  all  the  works  of  an 
existing  world  based  on  force.  In  the  vision  of  uni- 
versal justice,  which  haunts  the  consciousness  of  the 
Jewish  people  throughout  its  history,  it  is  the  poor, 
the  oppressed,  the  fallen,  the  weak,  and  the  disin- 
herited, that  become  all  that  the  gifted,  the  noble,  the 
darling  aristocrat  of  strength  and  perfection  are  to 
the  Greek.  We  follow  this  conception  in  Jewish  his- 
tory till  it  grows  greater  than  the  nation,  greater  than 
all  its  present,  greater  than  the  race  itself:  till,  as- 
sociated at  last  with  an  Ideal  of  self -subordination  and 
self-abnegation  which  has  burst  all  the  bounds  of  the 
present  and  the  material,  while  it  has  become  touched 
with  the  profoundest  quality  of  human  emotion,  it 
goes  forth  in  the  first  century  of  our  era  to  subdue  that 
world  in  which  the  ascendency  of  the  present  has 
reached  its  culminating  form  of  expression." 

Mr.  J.  Keir  Hardie,  in  an  address  upon  ''Religion 
and  the  Labour  Movement,"  said:     "A  test  question 


76 PAPERS  BY  THE 

both  for  men  and  movements  is,  'What  think  ye  of 
Christ?'  Is  He  merely  a  figment  of  the  imagination? 
Or  was  He  a  Hving,  divinely-inspired  Personality? 
And  what  relation  have  Christ's  teachings  to  the 
needs,  the  spiritual  needs,  of  the  individual,  and  to 
the  social  problems  of  the  age  in  which  we  live?  .  .  . 
To  the  Socialist  and  Labour-man  in  particular  Christ's 
teaching  should  appeal  with  irresistable  power.     He 

belongs  to  us  in  a  special  degree If  I  were 

called  upon  to  define  Christianity  in  a  single  sentence, 
I  would  say  that  Christianity  represents  'sacrifice 
having  its  origin  in  love.'  And  the  Christian  who  pro- 
fesses the  Christian  faith  is  thereby  under  obligation 
to  make  whatever  sacrifice  may  be  necessary  to  re- 
move sin,  suffering,  and  injustice  from  the  lives  of 
those  around  him.  ...  To  those  of  you  who  are  in 
the  Christian  Churches  I  would  say — don't  let  your- 
selves be  driven  out;  remain  inside,  and  make  the 
Church  more  worthy  of  Christ  than  it  has  been.  Those 
of  you  who  are  outside  the  Church — try  to  be  fol- 
lowers of  Christ  in  actuality,  if  not  in  name.  By 
working  together,  whether  inside  or  outside  the  or- 
ganized Church,  we  shall  be  serving  Him  Who  loved 
us,  and  loved  us  so  much  that  He  gave  His  life  for  us." 

Mr.  Arthur  Henderson,  in  an  address  upon  the 
same  topic :  "Take  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  with 
regard  to  the  value  of  human  life.  .  .  .  Let  us  get 
back  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Master's  own  teaching, 
back  to  His  own  words  upon  the  point.  If  we  Labour- 
men  will  only  do  that,  there  is  nothing  in  His  teaching 
which  will  impress  us  so  much  as  this — that  it  seemed 
to  be  the  essential  object  of  His  Incarnation  to  impress 
the  world  in  all  ages  with  the  high  value  of  that  hu- 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 77 

man  life  which  He  came  to  redeem ;  a  value  associated 
with  that  life,  not   for  what   it  had,    but   because  of 

what  it  was Now,  what  is  the  object  of  the 

whole  of  the  vast  machinery  now  controlled  by  the 
organized  Labour  Movement?  It  is  to  assist  in  the 
realization  of  the  highest  possible  human  life,  because 
we  are  impressed  with  the  value  of  human  life,  as  was 
the  Christ  Himself." 

Now  concerning  the  form  of  these  various  declara- 
tions there  will  be  a  variety  of  opinions  but  concern- 
ing the  spirit  of  them,  and  indeed  the  essential  ideas 
to  which  they  give  expression  I  may  venture  to  say 
that  they  fit  in  with  the  Master's  teaching,  and  belong 
in  that  ever  lengthening  appendix  to  the  sermon  on 
the  mount  which  lovers  of  their  fellows  have  written 
and  are  writing  in  this  day  by  their  words  and  their 
works. 

I  have  called  it  the  Kingdom  because  the  Master 
called  it  that.  Of  course  it  is  not  strictly  a  Kingdom. 
The  Kings  are  passing  and  with  them  will  pass  the 
phraseology  of  arbitrary  rule  and  even  of  benevolent 
paternalism.  It  is  a  brotherhood  for  which  the  Mas- 
ter gave  His  life;  it  is  a  great  democracy  of  free 
spirits  that  He  sought  to  found.  To  that  order  God 
suits  Himself  with  sublime  adaptability,  for  He  rules 
it  not  from  a  lofty  throne  but  by  His  indwelling  as 
truth  and  justice  in  the  humblest  mind.  From  the 
lowly  no  less  frequently  than  from  the  exalted  have 
come  the  impulses  and  the  insights  that  have  broaden- 
ed the  borders  of  the  new  order  and  nourished  its  in- 
most life.  By  His  identification  with  His  children 
regardless  of  caste  or  privilege  God  has  made  Him- 
self the  supreme  democrat  of  all.    And  Christ's  tern- 


78 PAPERS  BY  THE 

per  indicates  a  brotherhood  not  a  Kingdom.  He  was 
clothed  in  no  dignity  save  that  of  character  and  He 
knew  no  law  but  love.  When  He  wished  to  illustrate 
in  an  unforgettable  way  the  spirit  that  ruled  Him  and 
that  was  to  be  the  sign  of  the  new  order  He  girded 
Himself  with  a  towel  and  washed  His  disciples'  feet. 

I  repeat  that  no  one  can  measure  the  charm  or  the 
power  of  the  Kingdom  idea.  It  is  the  most  vital  and 
germinal  idea  in  human  thinking  today. 

I  wish  now  to  relate  the  simple  Christian  conviction 
of  the  Lordship  of  Jesus  to  two  main  movements  of 
modern  thought  and  to  build  up  a  new  doctrinal  formu- 
lation. It  can  of  course  be  barely  suggestive,  not 
complete. 

Here  is  the  critical  study  of  Scriptures,  both  Old 
and  New  Testament.  The  Bible  under  the  process 
becomes  a  different  book.  It  has  taken  form  at  dif- 
ferent periods  under  different  cultures,  and  differ- 
ing religious  conceptions.  It  is  a  composite.  Some 
of  it  has  little  value  for  our  time.  At  once  the  faith 
of  some  becomes  unsettled.  They  have  no  divine 
revelation  left,  if  they  must  accept  this  relative  scale 
of  values.  And  yet  there  gleams  in  the  pages  of  this 
book  an  expanding  religious  and  moral  ideal.  If  it 
begins  with  crude  ideas  of  God  it  goes  on  to  the  lofty 
presentation  of  Deity  that  an  Isaiah  or  a  Hosea  sets 
forth;  if  selfish  vicious  conduct  in  its  earliest  pages 
seems  to  have  the  divine  approval,  the  book  neverthe- 
less gives  us  in  its  latest  portions  such  sublime  expres- 
sion of  duty  as  gleam  in  the  pages  of  an  Amos  or  a 
Jeremiah.  But  no  theory  of  how  scripture  came  to 
be  can  mar  the  portrait  of  Jesus  as  He  was.  And  no 
theory  of  inspiration  can  disturb  the  appeal  that  He 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN      79 

will  always  make  to  men  and  women  to  follow  Him 
as  Master  of  life,  and  the  sure  builder  of  a  new  order 
in  the  world. 

How  does  our  Christian  conviction  of  the  Lordship 
of  Christ  fit  in  with  the  theory  of  evolution  that 
holds  sway  over  such  large  areas  of  human  thinking 
in  our  time?  One  must  say  there  are  impressive 
affinities  between  the  simple  expression  of  Christ's 
Lordship  and  the  modern  evolutionary  theory.  St. 
John's  doctrine  of  the  indwelling  Word  is  a  very 
natural  starting  point  for  a  modern  mind  to  begin  its 
formulation  of  a  doctrine  of  Christ.  For  we  believe 
not  in  a  power  that  has  made  the  world  and  set  it 
going  and  that  resides  outside  of  it,  but  we  believe  in 
an  indwelling  directive  energy.  We  believe  not  in  a 
God  who  manifests  himself  once  in  a  while  by  inter- 
fering with  the  natural  order  but  in  the  God  who  is 
the  intelligence  within  that  marvelous  natural  order. 
But  it  is  not  an  order  of  stones  and  trees  and  flowers 
alone.  It  is  an  order  of  human  consciousness  and  of 
ethical  sensitiveness.  It  is  an  order  of  moral  heroes 
and  religious  saints  who  love  their  fellows  and  serve 
them,  who  believe  in  eternal  life  and  die  in  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  possess  it.  It  needs  Jesus  to 
crown  all  that  we  know  of  this  marvellous  natural 
order  so  instinct  at  its  core  with  moral  values  and 
spiritual  principles. 

''All  tended  to  mankind 
And  man  produced  all  had  its  end  thus  far: 
But  incompleted  man  begins  anew, 
A  tendency  to  God.     Prognostics  told 
Man's  near  approach ;  so  in  man's  self  arise 
August  anticipations,  symbols,  types 
Of  a  dim  splendour  ever  on  before. 
In  that  eternal  circle  mn  by  life." 


80 PAPERS  BY  THE 

The  evolutionary  theory  confronted  by  this  match- 
less life  can  only  find  in  Him  the  culmination  of  those 
manifold  suggestions  of  spiritual  meanings  that  gleam 
at  different  stages  of  the  creative  process.  But  now 
that  a  completely  spiritualized  life  has  been  mani- 
fested we  behold  strange  new  hints  of  higher  ranges 
still  of  conscious  existence. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  Influence  of  Greek    Philosophy  upon   Early    Christianity, 

Hatch. 
History  of  Dogma,  Harnack. 
What  is  Christianity,  Harnack. 
Foundations,  by  Seven  Oxford  Men. 
The  Continuity  of  Religious  Thought,  Allen. 
Contentio  Veritatis,  Six  Oxford  Tutors. 
The  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ,  Mcintosh. 
Cambridge  Biblical  Essays,  Edited  by  Swete, 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN _81 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF  MAN 
EDWIN  A.  RALPH 

In  an  inspired  moment  of  long  ago,  some  lover  of 
life  asked  of  his  God  the  earnest  question,  ''What  is 
man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him?"  As  the  ages  have 
rolled  along,  this  same  earnest  question  has  been 
asked  by  men  awed  by  the  vastness  of  the  universe 
and  yet  impressed  by  the  qualities  of  human  life  and 
mystified  by  its  perennial  insistence  upon  its  own 
place  of  importance  in  the  world.  The  answers  have 
been  many  and  varied,  ranging  all  the  way  from  the 
assuring  answer  won  by  the  first  questioner  who  con- 
cluded that  God  had  made  man  but  little  lower  than 
Himself  and  crowned  him.  v/ith  glory  and  honor,  to  the 
answer  of  gloom  and  despair  that  found  lodgment  in 
the  minds  of  some  men  who  deduced  from  the  vision 
of  the  vastness  of  the  world  the  conviction  of  the  un- 
importance of  man. 

In  our  ov/n  day,  the  question  of  old  lacks  nothing  of 
its  original  force;  countless  men  are  asking  it,  and 
seeking  to  find  an  answer  that  squares  with  the  facts 
and  satisfies  the  yearnings  of  their  hearts.  Scientist, 
historian,  and  religionist  are  busy  at  the  task  of  find- 
ing the  whole  truth  about  man  and  assigning  to  him 
his  proper  place  in  the  life  of  the  world.  However 
much  human  life  may  have  suffered  from  inattention 
in  days  gone  by,  it  is  receiving  its  full  share  of  at- 
tention today,  as  men  with  different  interests  bring 
their  skilled  minds  to  the  study  of  man. 

The  biologist  is  concerned  to  discover  the  physical 
facts,  and  searches  back  into  remote  yesterdays  for 


82 PAPgRS  BY  THE 

man's  origin.  He  wants  to  know  whence  he  came  and 
how  he  has  reached  his  present  estate.  And  the  result 
of  his  studies  is  given  to  us  in  the  evolutionary 
theory  that  accounts  for  the  rise  of  man  from  the 
lowest  stage  to  his  present  high  standing.  The  his- 
torian is  concerned  to  discover  and  narrate  the  events 
that  have  taken  place  during  the  long  centuries,  and 
to  give  a  complete  account  of  the  rise  of  man  from  the 
early  forms  of  expression  to  the  complex  civilization 
of  today;  to  outline  his  ideas  from  the  crude  notions 
of  the  earliest  days  to  the  rather  constructive  thinking 
of  our  own  times.  He,  too,  outlines  an  evolutionary 
process  in  accordance  with  which  human  life  has  made 
its  determined  way  forward  and  upward  in  the  scale 
of  living.  The  psychologist  has  an  interest  in  dis- 
covering the  secrets  of  man's  receptive  and  expressive 
life.  He  busies  himself  with  studies  of  the  mental 
processes  and  seeks  to  discover  how  it  happens  that 
human  life  acts  as  it  does  in  any  given  case.  It  is  a 
great  and  absorbing,  and  shall  we  say  endless  task 
with  which  the  psychologist  finds  himself  confronted. 
And  there  is  something  about  the  bigness  of  it,  and 
the  variety  of  it,  that  begets  within  us  the  conclusion 
that  human  life  is  no  small  thing,  but  one  of  the 
greatest  things  to  which  our  thoughts  can  find  their 
way.  And  so  it  happens  that  the  biologist,  the  his- 
torian and  the  psychologist  all  add  greatly  to  our  ap- 
preciation of  the  strength  and  grandeur  of  human 
life. 

The  biologist  does  not  give  a  complete  story  of 
human  life;  neither  does  the  historian,  nor  the 
psychologist;  it  is  not  within  the  scope  of  their  par- 
ticular interests  to  do  so.     There  are  human  values 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 83 

with  which  the  biologist  does  not  deal;  nor  are  they 
dealt  with  by  the  historian  or  the  psychologist;  they 
do  not  happen  to  lie  within  their  fields.  Hence  it  fol- 
lows that  we  must  seek  farther  for  the  completion  of 
the  story  of  human  life.  Nothing  could  be  more 
detrimental  to  our  task  of  finding  the  complete  story 
of  human  life  than  stopping  with  the  findings  of  the 
scientists,  except  failing  to  use  their  findings  as  part 
of  the  complete  story,  and  as  stepping-stones  to  the 
understanding  of  the  rest  of  it.  Much  of  the  con- 
fusion of  our  day  is  due  to  the  decision  of  some 
scientists  to  stop  the  inquiry  at  the  end  of  their  find- 
ings, and  the  refusal  of  some  Christians  to  use  the 
highway  that  the  scientists  build.  A  sufficiently  pas- 
sionate interest  in  learning  the  full  story  of  man  will 
lead  us,  one  and  all,  along  whatever  highways  are 
available,  clear  to  the  end  of  every  search  in  every 
field. 

The  Christian  idea  is  in  no  way  opposed  to  the  idea 
of  the  scientist.  It  does  not  come  into  normal  conflict 
with  it.  It  is  another  idea,  which,  added  to  the  ideas 
gleaned  in  other  fields,  gives  us  the  relatively  com- 
plete story  for  which  we  are  seeking.  It  is  as  a  dis- 
tinct contribution  to  the  full  understanding  of  human 
life  that  it  is  presented  for  consideration. 

The  Christian  idea  of  man  has  to  do  with  human 
values.  Not  with  the  origin  of  life,  but  with  the 
value  of  each  and  every  man;  not  with  how  he  re- 
sponds to  various  stimuli,  but  with  how  he  ought  to 
respond  to  moral  ideals;  not  with  what  he  has  done, 
but  with  what  he  ought  to  do;  not  with  his  achieve- 
ments, but  with  his  possibilities;  not  alone  with  his 
own  resources,  but  also  with  the  Resources,  not  his 


84 PAPERS  BY  THE 

own,  that  operate  within  him,  and  help  to  make  him 
what  he  is. 

The  emphasis,  first  of  all,  is  on  the  inestimable 
worth  of  the  individual  life. 

Nothing  is  more  distinctive  in  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  than  his  tributes  to  the  worth  of  human  life, 
and  nothing  stands  out  more  prominently  in  his  ex- 
ample than  his  fine  regard  for  the  intrinsic  values  in 
the  lives  of  all  the  people  with  whom  he  came  in  con- 
tact. Paralleling  his  teaching  of  the  Fatherliness  of 
God  was  his  teaching  of  the  worth  of  human  life  to 
God.  No  echo  of  the  scepticism  of  human  values  that 
was  prevalent  in  his  day  found  its  way  into  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus;  and  no  foundation  for  the  disparaging 
conceptions  and  preachments  of  the  Middle  Ages,  or 
of  our  own  time,  can  be  found  in  a  single  word  that 
Jesus  uttered  or  in  a  single  attitude  that  he  assumed. 
The  whole  basis  of  his  mission  v/as  the  worth  of 
human  life,  and  the  sufficient  justification  for  his  deep 
interest  in  the  outcasts  of  society  was  the  conviction 
of  the  economic  demand  of  God  for  the  saving  of  every 
human  value.  It  was  his  business  to  seek  and  to  save 
the  lost;  God's  world  could  not  tolerate  losses;  the 
saving  of  human  values  was  the  cause  of  rejoicing  in 
a  world  whose  God  was  bent  upon  building  His  king- 
dom among  men.  As  uplifting  and  cheering  as  is  the 
Christian  idea  of  a  God  who  loves,  is  the  Christian 
idea  of  life  that  is  worth  loving. 

The  Christian  idea  of  man  also  stresses  the  respon- 
siveness of  man  to  the  call  of  God.  As  there  is  some- 
thing in  the  steel  that  enables  it  to  respond  to  the 
drawing  power  of  the  magnet,  so  there  is  something 
in  human  life  that  enables  it  to  respond  to  the  draw- 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVKNTEEN 85 

ing  power  of  God.  Whatever  the  process  of  salvation 
may  be,  the  basis  of  it  lies  not  alone  in  the  heart  of 
God,  but  also  in  the  life  of  man.  Nothing  in  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  suggests  the  hopelessness  of  hu- 
man life,  the  inability  of  men  to  work  out  their  own 
salvation,  to  come  to  themselves,  to  make  their  way 
to  God;  on  the  contrary,  he  regularly  appealed  to  the 
responsive  powers  in  the  lives  of  men, — "Come  unto 
me";  "Go  and  sin  no  more";  "Follow  me";  his  faith 
in  men's  ability  thus  to  respond  to  the  appeal  of  God 
was  the  ripened  fruit  of  his  assurance  of  their  in- 
trinsic worth.  There  is  a  teaching  that  calls  itself 
Christian  that  revels  in  discounting  the  moral  quali- 
ties of  the  natural  man,  in  utterly  contrasting  to  the 
sad  disadvantage  of  human  life,  the  powers  of  Christ 
and  the  hopelessness  of  man.  One  wonders  where  in 
the  Gospel  story  the  slightest  suggestion  for  such  a 
teaching  is  to  be  found.  The  Christian  idea  is  not 
that  man  has  fallen  away  or  fallen  low,  and  because 
of  his  having  fallen  is  in  a  hopeless  condition;  but 
rather  this,  that  however  far  away  man  has  drifted, 
or  however  low  he  has  fallen,  there  are  within  him 
powers  that  enable  him  to  respond  to  the  call  of  God ; 
that  however  far  down  in  the  scale  of  living  he  may 
be,  there  are  within  him  powers  that  make  possible 
his  full  response  to  the  call  of  the  ideal  that  looms  up 
on  his  horizon.  The  Christian  agrees  with  Elbert 
Hubbard,  that  "there  is  a  power  within  ourselves 
that  makes  for  righteousness".  In  so  far  as  we  give 
rein  to  this  power  within  us  that  makes  for  righteous- 
ness, that  enables  us  to  respond,  we  become  creators 
together  with  God  of  our  own  best  selves. 

The  Christian  idea  of  man  goes  farther:    it  makes 


86 PAPERS  BY  THE 

much  of  the  inherent  possibilities  of  life:  there  is  no 
end  to  what  man  can  do,  to  what  he  can  become.  It 
was  perfectly  natural  for  Jesus  to  insist  that  the  pro- 
gram for  human  life  was  very  large.  How  else  could 
he  gauge  life,  with  his  conception  of  its  worth,  and 
his  faith  in  its  powers  of  response?  To  very  ordi- 
nary men  who  later  set  the  world  on  fire  with  pas- 
sionate devotion  to  ideals,  he  opened  wide  the  Gates 
of  the  Kingdom  with  these  words:  "Ye  shall  be  per- 
fect, as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect" ;  *The  works 
that  I  do,  shall  ye  do  also;  and  greater  works  than 
these  shall  ye  do."  Which  is  to  say,  that  Jesus  spoke 
in  the  terms  of  the  limitless  possibilities  of  human 
life,  spurring  life  on  to  the  fulfillment  of  its  hopes  in 
the  building  of  a  perfect  character,  and  charging  it 
with  the  responsibility  for  doing  the  work  that  makes 
men  builders  together  with  God  of  that  Kingdom  to- 
wards which  all  the  evolutionary  processes  of  the 
world  work.  This  was  not  common  doctrine  in  the 
days  of  Jesus ;  it  is  none  too  common  even  today ;  it  is 
important,  however,  that  we  understand  that  it  was 
Jesus'  idea,  and  that  it  is  the  Christian  idea  with 
which  our  thinking  is  enriched  today. 

This  idea  embodied  the  conception  of  the  possibility 
of  the  union  of  human  life  with  the  life  of  God,  a  pos- 
sibility that  has  been  stressed  all  too  little  since  the 
days  of  Jesus.  This  represents  the  maximum  of 
achievement,  no  doubt,  but  it  is  fully  within  Jesus' 
conception  of  that  which  is  possible.  It  is  wholly 
sensible  that  the  vital  God  who  lives  in  this  world 
should  make  it  possible  for  the  men  whom  He  sum- 
mons to  His  assistance,  to  reach  that  identity  of  pur- 
pose with  His  own,  and  that  dignity  of  character,  and 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 87 

that  love  of  creating  values  that  would  automatically 
unite  them  to  Himself,  make  them  ''one  with  Him"  as 
Jesus  was  one  with  Him. 

There  is  this  content,  too,  in  the  Christian  idea  of 
man :  he  is  the  via  media  for  the  will  of  God ;  through 
him  God  operates;  through  him,  God  makes  His  will 
known,  His  purposes  carry.  His  love  create.  Just  as 
no  idea  of  Jesus  is  complete  that  does  not  include  the 
presence  of  God  in  his  life,  so  no  idea  of  man's  life  is 
complete  that  does  not  include  the  presence  of  God  in 
his  life.  Just  as  the  Spirit  of  God  operated  in  the  life 
of  Jesus,  and  made  him  equal  to  all  the  possibilities  of 
life,  so  the  Spirit  of  God  operates  in  our  lives  and 
makes  us  equal  to  all  the  possibilities  with  which  our 
human  lives  are  endowed.  This  does  not  mean  that 
God  is  our  substitute,  nor  that  we  are  mere  clay  in  His 
hands;  but  it  does  mean  that  God  in  human  life  is  a 
value  added  to  our  own ;  it  means  that  God  in  human 
life  quickens  the  responsive  powers  of  our  natures;  it 
means  that  God  in  human  life  stirs  within  us  the  pas- 
sion to  fulfill  the  hopes  of  life,  to  develop  our  possi- 
bilities to  the  full,  and  to  form  that  union  of  mind  and 
will  with  Him  that  will  enable  Him  to  accomplish  in 
this  world  that  which  He  can  do  only  through  the  ser- 
vices of  human  lives,  and  that  will  enable  us  to  ex- 
perience the  joy  of  creating  together  with  God  the 
tvorld  in  which  we  live  with  Him. 

This  is  one  small  part,  at  least,  of  the  Christian  idea 
of  man:  he  is  of  inestimable  intrinsic  worth;  he  is 
naturally  noble  rather  than  ignoble.  He  is  naturally 
responsive  to  the  call  of  God ;  to  make  his  wav  to  the 
Father  is  the  most  natural  thing  he  does.  He  is  en- 
dowed with  the  p'ossibility  of  attaining  perfection  of 


PAPERS  BY  THE 


character,  and  forming  an  active  unity  of  life  and 
purpose  with  God.  He  is  a  spiritual  and  moral  being, 
in  whom  God  lives  and  through  whom  God  expresses 
Himself,  and  by  whom  God  accomplishes  His  purposes 
in  the  world. 

The  modern  Christian  is  under  an  immense  debt  of 
gratitude  to  the  modern  scientists,  who,  by  their  study 
of  life  along  physical  and  psychical  lines,  have  con- 
tributed to  him  a  new  sense  of  the  greatness  and  im- 
portance of  man,  and  have  put  in  his  hands  tools  to 
use  in  discovering  for  himself  the  Christian  view  of 
life.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Christian  contributes  to 
the  scientists  and  to  the  world  at  large,  a  conception 
of  human  life  that  presents  man,  not  as  a  mere  animal, 
not  as  a  mere  machine,  not  as  a  being  divorced  from 
the  Spirit  that  actuates  this  world,  but  as  a  being  who 
contains  within  himself  mighty  values,  noble  impulses, 
unmeasured  spiritual  resources,  and  a  moral  will  to 
unite  all  that  he  has  and  all  that  he  is  with  the  God  of 
this  world  for  lifers  creative  purposes. 

Anyone  who  looks  the  life  of  today  squarely  in  the 
face,  and  thinks  twice  about  the  present  day  task,  is 
impressed  by  the  immensity  of  the  task  in  hand  and 
the  seriousness  of  the  situation  in  which  the  world 
finds  itself.  While  we  are  searching  for  a  way  through 
the  difficulties  to  the  clearer  fields  of  a  brighter  day, 
let  us  not  be  unmindful  of  the  immense  value  for  just 
the  emergencies  of  the  present  hour  that  inheres  in 
men's  proper  appraisal  of  their  own  lives.  James 
Harvey  Robinson  in  *'The  Mind  in  the  Making'*  says 
pointedly,  *lf  some  magical  transformation  could  be 
produced  in  men's  ways  of  looking  at  themselves  and 
their  fellows,  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  evils  that 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 89 

now  afflict  society  would  vanish  away  or  remedy 
themselves  automatically.''  It  is  always  true  that  this 
world  depends  for  its  light  and  peace  and  leadership 
upon  great  lives,  upon  men  who  have  a  fine  sense  of 
the  worth  of  their  lives  to  the  age  in  which  they  live, 
and  have  skill  in  effective  performance  in  behalf  of 
civilization.  Let  us  note  that  Jesus  coupled  with  his 
commission  to  men  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  re- 
deem it,  a  clean-cut  conception  of  the  greatness  and 
dignity  of  human  life.  And  let  us  be  sure  that  we 
best  condition  men  for  rendering  the  service  that  the 
world  needs  to  have  rendered,  when  we  drive  deep 
into  their  minds  the  conviction  that  their  lives  are 
essentially  noble  and  resourceful,  that  the  natural 
performance  of  men  lies  in  the  direction  of  whole- 
hearted response  to  the  call  of  sane  ideals,  and  that  the 
highest  privilege  they  will  ever  have  is  to  unite  their 
strength  to  that  of  God  in  advancing  the  cause  of 
righteousness  in  this  world.  To  no  higher  task  than 
finding  and  heralding  a  cheering,  uplifting,  Christian 
idea  of  human  life  that  will  stir  life  to  the  depths,  can 
we  possibly  dedicate  our  thinking. 


90 PAPERS  iBY  THE 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF  SALVATION 

GILBERT  S.  COX 

A  MORE  complete  and  definite  statement  of  this 
theme  might  clarify  the  material  and  method  of  this 
paper.  What  is  the  content  of  the  idea  of  salvation 
for  the  modern  Christian  ? 

Like  every  other  great  Christian  doctrine,  it  roots 
back  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  used  there  largely 
with  the  sense  of  deliverance.  This  applies  both  to 
the  nation  and  to  the  individual.  A  few  instances  will 
illustrate  this.  Exodus  XIV,  13.  Moses  commanded 
the  children  of  Israel  to  ''stand  still  and  see  the  sal- 
vation of  the  Lord",  for  they  should  see  the  Egyptian 
"no  more  for  ever".  I  Samuel  XIV,  45.  The  Lord 
''wrought  a  great  salvation"  through  David  who 
risked  his  life  to  slay  the  Philistine.  The  Psalmist  in 
14  and  53,  seeing  the  iniquity  and  godlessness  of  the 
people  who  surrounded  him  cries,  "0  that  the  salva- 
tion of  Israel  were  come  out  of  Zion".  Habakkuk  III, 
8  speaks  of  the  "horses  and  chariots  of  salvation". 
This  idea  of  national  deliverance  was  caught  up  by 
Mary  the  Mother  of  Jesus  when  she  sang  of  the  com- 
ing Savior.  Luke  I,  51.  "He  hath  scattered  the  proud 
in  the  imaginations  of  their  hearts.  He  hath  put 
down  the  mighty  from  their  seats  and  exalted  them  of 
low  degree".  Zacharias  took  the  gift  of  his  son  as  a 
divine  sign  of  "the  hour  of  salvation".  Luke  I,  71 
"That  we  should  be  saved  from  our  enemies,  and  from 
the  hand  of  all  that  hate  us".  Simeon  and  Anna  saw 
in  the  child  Jesus  the  salvation  of  God — "A  glory  to 
thy   people    Israel".      A    fulfillment    of    the    ancient 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVE-NTEEN 91 

promise  of  deliverance  and  a  vindication  to,  Luke  II, 
38,  **all  them  that  looked  for  redemption  in  Jerusa- 
lem". John  the  Baptist  began  preaching  that — Luke 
III,  6,  "every  valley  shall  be  filled,  every  mountain  and 
hill  made  low,  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight  and 
the  rough  places  made  smooth  and  all  flesh  shall  see 
the  salvation  of  God." 

In  a  less  conspicuous  way  the  word  is  used  of  in- 
dividual deliverance,  chiefly  from  enemies,  trouble, 
sickness,  and  death.  The  Psalmist  says,  27:1,  "The 
Lord  is  my  light  and  my  salvation ;  whom  shall  I  fear" 
— "though  an  host  should  encamp  against  me,  my  heart 
shall  not  fear".  Psalm  62 :  2  and  6,  "He  only  is  my 
rock  and  my  salvation;  he  is  my  defence;  I  shall  not 
be  moved". 

The  very  name  Jesus  is  the  Greek  form  of  the 
Hebrew  name,  Jeho-shua  or  Joshua  which  means, 
"Jehovah  is  my  deliverer".  And  the  other  name  by 
which  he  is  so  often  called.  Savior,  has  the  same  mean- 
ing. When  Jesus  preached  His  first  sermon  He 
showed  how  His  ministry  was  vitally  connected  with 
this  Old  Testament  idea,  Luke  4:18-19,  "He  hath  an- 
nointed  me  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and 
recovering  the  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bruised  and  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of 
the  Lord".  He  also  said  of  Himself,  Luke  19:10  "The 
Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  save  that  which  is 
lost",  and  again,  John  12 :47,  "For  I  came  not  to  judge 
the  world  but  to  save  the  world".  After  it  is  seen 
that  this  is  the  primary  meaning  of  the  use  of  the 
word  it  is  possible  to  empty  it  of  its  real  purport.  It 
can  be  so  distorted  as  to  destroy  His  mission.    We  can 


92 PAPERS  BY  THE 

even  repeat  the  terms  Jesus  used  and  so  misinterpret 
them  as  to  make  void  His  whole  message. 

This  is  well  illustrated  by  His  own  contemporaries. 
With  their  historical  background  it  is  easy  to  see  why 
the  great  national  hope  of  the  restoration  of  Israel  was 
revived  at  the  beginning  of  His  ministry.  His  dis- 
ciples looked  for  it  during  His  whole  ministry.  They 
put  that  content  into  His  Messiahship  after  His  death. 
The  two  discouraged  men  on  the  way  to  Emmaus  said, 
Luke  24:21,  "We  trusted  that  it  had  been  He  which 
should  have  restored  Israel".  After  His  resurrection 
the  disciples  renewed  their  hope,  Acts  1 :6,  "Wilt  thou 
at  this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  of  Israel''.  But 
He  did  not  come  to  bring  that  kind  of  deliverance,  He 
was  more  interested  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  than  in 
any  national  kingdom. 

The  tendency  since  Jesus'  day  has  been  to  narrow 
His  salvation  to  some  particular  hope  or  creed.  If  we 
were  to  formulate  a  definition  today  from  the  preach- 
ing and  teaching  of  those  evangelists  who  claim  to  be 
salvation  specialists  and  champions  of  the  "pure 
gospel"  it  might  be  put  in  this  sentence — Salvation  is 
the  spiritual  or  moral  deliverance  of  the  individual 
from  the  eternal  consequences  of  sin.  We  are  saved 
from  our  sins  to  escape  hell  and  gain  heaven.  Now 
that  sounds  familiar  and  seems  perfectly  self  evident. 
There  are  three  ideas  in  this  sentence,  first,  salvation 
is  spiritual  and  moral;  second,  it  has  its  goal  in 
eternity ;  third,  that  it  is  a  personal  matter.  Now  this 
whole  content  is  false  because  it  is  only  a  half  truth. 
The  best  way  to  find  what  Jesus  really  meant  is  to 
watch  Him  as  He  goes  about  bringing  salvation  to  the 
world. 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 93 

I.     Is  salvation  a  spiritual  deliverance  only? 

Jesus  comes  to  the  pool  of  Bethesda  and  among  the 
multitude  of  the  sick  who  are  there  for  healing,  He  is 
attracted  by  a  man  who  had  an  infirmity  thirty-eight 
years,  His  challenge  is — "Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?" 
When  the  man  arose  and  carried  away  his  bed,  the 
Jews  accused  Him  of  breaking  the  Sabbath.  He  falls 
back  upon  the  command  of  the  One  who  made  him 
whole  as  his  authority,  John  5:14.  Afterward  Jesus 
findeth  him  in  the  temple  and  said  unto  him,  ''behold 
thou  art  made  whole,  sin  no  more".  Now  just  when 
Jesus  had  made  him  whole  or  whether  the  first  de- 
liverance was  spiritual  or  physical  or  which  was  the 
more  important  is  not  the  argument.  The  point  is, 
that  he  was  made  whole  both  physically  and  spiritual- 
ly. If  this  is  the  occurrence  to  which  Jesus  refers  in 
John  7 :23  it  makes  it  the  more  clear  that  He  has  done 
enough  for  the  man  when  He  claims  to  have  made  one 
"every  whit  whole  on  the  Sabbath  day". 

Jesus  used  this  term,  wholeness,  interchangeably; 
sometimes  signifying  spiritual  and  others  physical  de- 
liverance. When  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  murmured 
against  Him  for  eating  with  Publicans  and  Sinners 
His  answer  was,  Luke  5:31,  'They  that  are  whole 
need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick".  When 
the  woman  is  healed  by  touching  the  border  of  His 
garment  she  is  told,  Luke  8:48,  "Be  of  good  comfort, 
thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole".  When  the  leper  re- 
turns to  give  thanks  for  his  healing  he  is  pronounced 
whole  because  of  his  faith. 

This  same  idea  was  carried  out  by  the  disciples  who 
first  went  out  to  preach  at  the  command  of  Jesus. 
Luke  9 :2,  "He  sent  them  to  preach  the  Kingdom  of 


94 PAPERS  BY  THE 

God  and  to  heal  the  sick,"  their  authority  was  over 
both  devils  and  diseases.  When  the  seventy  returned 
with  the  joy  of  success  because  they  could  heal  the 
sick,  Luke  10 :18,  "even  the  devils  were  subject  through 
His  name."  Jesus  says  "I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning 
fall  from  heaven".  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
victories  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

How  different  all  this  sounds  when  compared  with 
the  teaching  of  the  essential  sinfulness  of  the  flesh. 
Saints  of  the  ascetic  type  of  mind  have  always  tried 
to  escape  the  evil  influences  of  the  body  by  punishing 
it.  They  have  sought  salvation  by  fasting,  flagella- 
tion, lying  on  beds  of  nails.  Wholeness  does  not  lie 
in  that  direction.  There  is  no  essential  antithesis  be- 
tween flesh  and  spirit  if  one  has  full  salvation.  ''The 
word  became  flesh"  says  John,  and  the  strong  virile 
body  of  Jesus  was  a  part  of  the  wonder  of  His  life. 
Paul  who  seems  to  lend  authority  to  this  "warfare"  of 
flesh  and  spirit  also  speaks  of  the  body  as  "the  temple 
of  the  Holy  Spirit",  that  our  bodies  are  to  be  pre- 
sented living  sacrifices,  holy  and  acceptable  to  God." 

Browning  decries  the  saint  who  complainingly  says, 
"spite  of  this  flesh  today  I  strove,  made  head,  gained 
ground  upon  the  whole"  rather  "as  the  bird  wings  and 
sings  let  us  say,  all  good  things  are  ours,  nor  soul 
helps  flesh  more  now  than  flesh  helps  soul". 

The  modern  world  is  favorable  to  this  Christian 
view.  The  old  deistic  philosophy  which  made  a  sharp 
distinction  between  God  and  the  world  which  thought 
in  dualistic  terms  is  gone.  The  more  sane  and  help- 
ful metaphysics  of  this  day  finds  God  in  this  world  as 
its  ever  living  source.  God  and  nature  are  not  two 
opposed  entities.    "In  Him  we  live,  move  and  have  our 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN      95 

being."  So  God  may  manifest  His  will  and  purpose 
in  and  through  our  flesh.  The  immanence  of  God 
helps  us  to  see  that  the  body  is  also  sacred. 

Modern  psychology  has  made  amazing  confirmation 
of  the  relation  of  the  spirit  and  flesh.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  beyond  doubt  that  much  of  sickness 
comes  from  wrong  mental  habits.  Fear,  anger,  worry 
bring  a  train  of  physical  concomitants.  And  it  is  no 
secret  that  the  opposite  is  also  true  that  delinquency, 
ill  temper,  low  mentality,  and  many  other  problems  of 
youth  have  a  physical  explanation.  Students  of  in- 
dustrial accidents  know  about  the  fatal  three  o'clock 
hour  when  fatigue  plays  its  dreadful  role  in  mine, 
shop  and  factory.  The  rather  crude  formula  of  the 
rescue  mission  is  well  to  the  point — ''soup — soap,  sal- 
vation". The  phenomenon  of  conversion,  the  religious 
awakening,  in  the  period  of  adolescence,  certainly  has 
its  vital  relation  to  the  physical  development.  It  would 
surprise  the  philosopher,  the  biologist,  the  psych- 
ologist, to  be  told  that  they  are  instruments  of  salva- 
tion, that  they  belong  to  the  redeemers  of  the  race,  but 
such  they  are.  The  pity  is  that  the  preacher  has  not 
long  ago  called  to  his  assistance  the  services  of  all 
men  and  institutions  making  for  the  wholeness  of  life. 
Science  and  religion  must  join  hands  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  race.  Philosophy,  psychology,  biology, 
eugenics,  the  home,  the  school,  the  community,  the 
church,  may  all  be  instruments  of  the  deliverance 
which  Christ  brings  to  body  and  spirit.  Again  the 
argument  is  not  which  is  first  in  importance.  There 
are  saints  like  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  and  Sid- 
ney Lanier  who  have  never  known  a  day  without  pain, 
and  there  are  splendid  animals  ''whose  flesh  has  soul 


&6 PAPERS  BY  THE 

to  suit''.  But  who  would  dare  say  that  the  handicap 
of  sickness  is  necessary  or  desirable  or  that  Jesus  who 
called  Himself  the  ''great  Physician"  did  not  heal 
both  body  and  soul. 

II.  Are  men  lost  only  in  hell  or  saved  only  in 
heaven  ? 

An  examination  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  will  show 
an  amazingly  small  amount  of  emphasis  upon  the 
future  life. 

He  announced  His  purpose  "to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost"  not  that  which  would  be  lost.  His 
great  word  of  hope  spoken  to  Zacchaeus  was,  Luke 
19:9  "This  day  salvation  is  come  to  this  house". 
There  was  to  be  no  waiting  for  some  future  day  or 
revelation,  he  had  salvation. 

The  story  of  the  prodigal  ends  with  the  joyful 
words,  "my  son  was  lost,  he  is  found".  His  teaching 
about  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  being  a  present  reality 
further  develops  this  point.  It  was  not  only  an  in- 
heritance long  prepared  but  a  present  dynamic.  Like 
leaven  exploding  its  way  into  the  whole  lump.  Like 
a  seed,  small  to  be  sure,  but  having  the  power  of 
growth  until  it  should  attain  great  strength.  Like 
new  wine  so  full  of  ferment  that  to  try  to  put  it  in  old 
bottles  might  cause  the  loss  of  both  the  bottles  and 
the  wine. 

Jesus'  words  also  as  recorded  in  John  indicate  a 
different  conception  of  His  gifts  to  men.  "I  am  come 
that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might  have  it 
more  abundantly."  Again  He  put  this  in  the  striking 
saying  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  John  11:25-26,  "He 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  should 


l^HEOLOGIOAL    SEVENTEEN 9t 

he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die".  John  is  just  as  vivid  in  his  great  state- 
ment, I  John  5:12,  "He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life". 
Paul  experienced  this  fundamental  truth  when  he 
found  Christ,  II  Corinthians  5:17,  "If  any  man  be  in 
Christ  he  is  a  new  creature".  Again  in  Galatians  2:20, 
"I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me". 

Wherever  we  look  we  find  the  New  Testament  views 
life  as  a  unit.  The  Kingdom  of  God  begins  just  where 
men  are,  the  salvation  Jesus  brought  was  a  present, 
living,  dynamic.  A  principle  and  pov/er  which  changed 
the  whole  horizon,  a  rebirth  which  opened  the  eyes  to 
the  values  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  It  was  not  con- 
fined to  this  present  life  or  to  the  future,  it  was  in 
both.  It  is  not  an  "either  or"  proposition,  it  is  "both 
and",  it  was  "the  life". 

The  modern  man  is  not  interested  in  some  invention 
to  keep  him  out  of  hell  or  to  get  him  into  heaven.  If 
he  has  any  intellectual  life  he  is  very  wary  of  the 
vivid  descriptions  of  the  future  condition  of  life.  So 
much  of  the  dogmatic  teaching  on  such  questions  is 
without  Biblical  foundation  and  to  be  metaphysically 
conceived  requires  a  stretch  of  the  imagination.  The 
"lake  of  fire"  has  lost  its  terror  for  more  than  the  in- 
tellectual of  our  day.  As  Chaplain  Studdert  Kennedy 
says,  "I  am  not  the  least  bit  afraid  of  going  to  hell, 
but  I  am  horribly  afraid  that  a  day  will  come  when 
someone  will  look  me  in  the  eye  and  say,  'well,  and 
what  did  you  make  of  it?'  "  That  has  a  moral  and 
ethical  appeal.  The  "Jesus  paid  it  all"  variety  of  ap- 
peal to  enter  heaven  has  lost  its  vitality  with  this  gen- 
eration and  rightly  so.  Selfishness  is  the  stock  out  of 
which  any  brew  of  sin  may  be  made  and  "enlightened 


PAPERS  BY  THE 


selfishness"  is  still  selfishness,  the  very  antithesis  of 
the  appeal  of  Jesus.  Luke  9:23,  "If  any  man  would 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himelf  and  take  up  his 
cross  daily,  and  follow  ma".  Instead  of  that  as  Rus- 
kin  says  "this  has  been  exactly  reversed  by  modern 
Protestantism,  which  sees  in  the  cross,  not  a  furca  to 
which  it  is  to  be  nailed,  but  a  raft  on  which  it  and  all 
its  valuable  properties  are  to  be  floated  into  Paradise". 

The  crushing  problem  of  our  day  is  not  to  keep  men 
out  of  hell  but  to  keep  hell  out  of  men.  It  is  not  to 
conduct  men  into  heaven  but  to  get  a  few  of  the 
glories  of  the  new  Jerusalem  to  come  "down  out  of 
heaven". 

This  is  no  argument  against  the  sense  of  immor- 
tality, it  is  only  saying  with  this  as  with  the  physical 
and  spiritual  if  salvation  is  to  be  complete  we  must 
think  of  its  larger  and  more  Christian  meaning  and 
content  and  include  both  the  present  and  future.  We 
affirm  the  transcendence  of  the  Kingdom,  it  is  "not  of 
this  world"  but  it  may  be  in  this  world.  We  affirm 
the  organic  union  of  the  Kingdom.  The  glory  of  our 
salvation  is  that  we  may  here  and  now  "know  in  part" 
and  rest  in  the  validity  of  that  knowledge.  We  may 
only  live  on  an  hidden  shore  of  the  expansive  sea  but 
our  partial  knowledge  is  true  of  all.  The  complete 
view  would  be  "only  vaster".  We  fall  back  upon  the 
eternal  values  of  present  experience. 

Therefore  says  Paul — faith,  hope,  love  abideth,  and 
he  might  have  added  humility,  courage,  service  and  all 
the  other  living  qualities  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

III.     Is  salvation  a  personal  matter  only? 

Did  Jesus  come  to  deliver    a  few    individuals,    "to 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVE'NTEEN  99 

pluck  a  few  brands  from  the  burning",  or  was  His 
mission  in  any  way  to  affect  institutions?  Is  the 
''good  news"  personal  or  is  it  social?  We  answer, 
both,  either  one  without  the  other  is  a  failure  and  a 
falsehood. 

As  we  watch  Jesus  saving  men  it  is  easy  to  discover 
the  double  meaning  of  the  experience  and  His  require- 
ments. Salvation  is  a  personal  matter  with  the  social 
test.  The  proposition  is  well  put  by  Rauschenbusch, 
"sin  is  not  a  private  transaction  between  the  sinner 
and  God.  Humanity  always  crowds  the  audience  room 
when  God  holds  court."  Humanity  must  also  crowd  the 
audience  room  when  men  are  saved.  When  Jesus  went 
into  the  house  of  Zaccheus  "to  seek  and  save  that 
which  was  lost"  He  found  a  selfish  man,  rich  at  the 
expense  of  his  neighbors.  When  He  came  away  He 
left  Zaccheus  ready  to  repay  his  neighbors  and  to  give 
away  one  half  of  his  goods.  This  said  Jesus  was  sal- 
vation. This  is  not  an  isolated  case.  When  Moses 
saw  the  burning  bush  and  turned  aside  to  talk  with 
God  it  was  to  settle  whether  or  not  he  was  willing  to 
become  the  savior  of  his  people.  When  Isaiah  saw  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  temple  he  realized  that  his  own 
lips  were  unclean  and  he  had  a  vision  of  the  social  sin 
in  which  he  lived.  The  voice  of  God  challenged  him 
to  consecrate  himself  to  the  salvation  of  the  nation. 
After  Paul's  conversion  we  cease  to  hear  much  about 
strict  Phariseeism  and  much  about  a  love  that  over- 
leaps the  bounds  of  sex,  of  class,  of  nation.  When 
John  Wesley  had  failed  to  find  satisfaction  trying  to 
save  his  own  soul  he  writes,  "the  Bible  knows  nothing 
of  a  solitary  religion".  It  is  httle  wonder  he  became 
the  social  savior  of  his  day.    Jesus  stressed  the  same 


100 PAPERS  BY  THE 

duality  when  he  said  there  were  two  great  command- 
ments— love  to  God,  and  love  to  the  neighbor,  and 
that  they  were  alike.  He  followed  this  great  pro- 
nouncement with  that  remarkable  illustration  of  the 
"Good  Samaritan",  indicating  beyond  question  that 
even  the  leaders  of  religion  who  had  lost  their  social 
vision  did  not  belong  to  His  Kingdom. 

His  effort  is  not  only  to  save  individuals  by  awaken- 
ing the  social  enthusiasm  but  His  supreme  effort  was 
given  to  building  the  "beloved  community".  He  began 
this  experiment  at  Capernaum.  This  was  the  com- 
mercial center  of  his  country.  Out  of  this  fraternity 
would  radiate  an  influence  not  only  to  Palestine  but 
through  the  commercial  trade  routes  to  the  ends  of 
the  civilized  world.  It  was  here  that  he  chose  his 
workers  and  began  his  conquest  of  social  service. 
Here  it  was  that  many  "mighty  deeds"  were  done  to 
make  His  plan  succeed.  But  as  he  leaves,  his  "re- 
proach" is  to  the  whole  city  and  its  environs,  "woe  to 
thee  Chorazin!  woe  to  thee  Bethsaida! — and  thou 
Capernaum  shalt  go  down  to  Hades! 

We  know  too  that  Jesus  had  hopes  of  a  national 
salvation.  When  He  enters  Jerusalem  on  that  last 
fatal  week,  coming  around  the  shoulder  of  the  hill  on 
the  road  above  the  city,  he  sees  its  glittering  temple 
and  splendid  homes.  His  consciousness  of  the  nation's 
great  refusal,  represented  in  the  continued  hostility  of 
Jerusalem,  wrings  from  His  heart  these  tragic  words, 
Luke  13:34,  "0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  that  kills  the 
prophets,  and  that  stones  those  who  are  sent  to  her! 
How  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  to- 
gether even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  own  brood  under 
her  wings,  and  ye  would  not." 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 101 

There  are  many  considerations  which  make  this 
more  complete  idea  of  salvation  vital  for  today. 

We  are  confronted  with  the  break  down  of  the  sup- 
posed Christian  nations.  The  second  century  said 
"behold  how  these  Christians  loved  one  another,"  the 
twentieth  century  heathen  look  on  in  disgust  and  say 
''behold  how  these  Christians  hate  one  another."  In 
other  words  if  what  we  have  had  is  salvation  we  are 
lost.  It  is  evident  we  need  a  new  kind  of  a  Christian 
The  Czar  and  the  Kaiser  were  both  devout  men,  good 
church-men.  We  have  had  too  many  good  men  who 
have  taken  John  Bunyan's  'Tilgrim"  for  their  model. 
But  the  **City  of  Destruction"  is  not  to  be  abandoned 
but  saved.  We  are  to  stay  until  we  are  crucified  if  we 
are  followers  of  Christ.  We  give  evidence  of  our  re- 
demption by  redeeming.  If  we  refuse  we  are,  Mat- 
thew 5:13,  "good  for  nothing  but  to  be  cast  out  and 
trodden  under  foot  by  men". 

A  driver  for  an  industrial  magnate  is  quoted  as 
saying  of  his  employer — "he  is  an  angel  at  home  and 
a  devil  in  business".  There  are  so  many  angels  at 
home,  or  church,  who  are  devils  in  business,  politics, 
government,  and  international  relations.  This  is  the 
real  double  standard.  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  We  have  had  a  good  deal  of  intensive  piety 
but  not  much  extensive  Christianity.  Rauschenbusch 
says,  "a  religious  experience  is  not  Christian  unless  it 
binds  us  closer  to  men  and  commits  us  more  deeply  to 
the  Kingdom  of  God."  Fitch  says,  "an  absence  of  the 
sense  of  responsibility  for  the  social  order  has  from 
the  beginning,  maimed  and  distorted  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity". If  we  are  to  challenge  the  youth  and  ideal- 
ism of  our  day  it  can  be  best  done  by  the  appeal  to 


102 PAPERS  BY  THE 

such  a  crusade.  The  cry  "to  make  the  world  safe" 
stirred  the  world,  the  cry  to  bring  in  the  Kingdom  will 
enlist  the  bravest  and  best.  Only  the  hesitating  and 
cowardly  will  be  appealed  to  to  save  themselves,  the 
courageous  will  lose  their  lives  for  other's  sake.  In 
this  endeavor  they  find  fellowship  with  men  and  com- 
radeship with  Christ. 

There  is  a  new  sense  of  solidarity  in  the  world.  No 
m.an  any  longer  "liveth  to  himself.  The  world  with 
its  ignorance,  poverty  and  sin  is  at  our  doors.  We 
are  members  one  of  the  other.  Mr.  F.  Ernest  Johnson 
in  a  recent  booklet  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
very  mark  of  our  personality  is  social.  We  come  to 
the  sense  of  personality  through  human  associations. 
We  see  the  futility  of  a  complete  deliverance  without 
the  saved  group  in  which  to  live.  For  a  long  while  we 
tried  to  combat  the  saloon  by  having  individuals  sign 
the  total  abstinence  pledges.  But  the  system  pro- 
duced new  recruits  faster  than  the  temperance  forces 
could  rescue  the  victims.  Victory  will  only  come  when 
we  do  away  with  the  organized  traffic.  Too  long  we 
have  been  a  sort  of  an  ambulance  following  in  the  train 
of  slavery,  war,  paganized  industry,  and  international 
rivalry,  content  to  gather  up  the  dead  and  wounded. 
Some  day  we  will  attack  the  system  itself.  We  will  try 
to  convert  the  pirates  so  that  there  will  be  no  more 
men  beaten  and  robbed  by  the  roadside. 

We  realize  too  that  a  community  is  more  than  the 
individuals  in  it.  It  is  no  stronger  than  the  individ- 
uals who  compose  it,  but  the  individual  multiplies  his 
strength  by  co-operation.  "The  strength  of  the  pack 
is  the  wolf — the  strength  of  the  wolf  is  the  pack." 
One  shall  chase  a  thousand  and  two,   ten    thousand. 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 103 

Certain  sins  go  out  of  fashion,  are  killed  by  social 
neglect.  Jesus  gave  the  world  new  values.  The  great 
ones  in  His  Kingdom  were  to  be  the  servants  of  all. 
Perhaps  we  have  here  the  secret  of  the  power  of  the 
kingdom  of  evil  and  the  hope  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  goal  of  the  work  of  Christ  then,  or  salvation 
would  be,  perfect  men  in  a  perfect  social  order,  the 
final  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Nothing  has  been  said  about  the  method  of  ap- 
propriating salvation  or  its  source.  In  the  light  of  the 
previous  discussion  it  will  be  evident  that  all  in- 
stitutional, ritualistic  or  ceremonial  means,  however 
elaborate,  beautiful  or  scriptural,  must  take  a  second- 
ary place  in  producing  Christian  salvation.  It  will 
also  be  evident  to  the  reader  that  any  theory  of  the 
saving  work  of  Christ  must  have  an  ethical  content. 
All  conceptions  of  what  takes  place  in  the  mind  of 
God,  of  forensic  scenes,  of  governmental  adjustments, 
of  imputed  righteousness,  must  be  considered  as  the 
more  or  less  truthful  speculations  and  attempts  of 
various  men  of  different  ages  to  express  a  great 
truth,  namely  that,  "by  grace,  we  are  saved  through 
faith".  That  is,  if  we  mean  by  grace,  the  love  of  God 
seeking  us  out  and  giving  Himself  for  us,  so  that  it 
is  not  on  account  of  any  virtue  or  good  deeds,  we  can 
purchase  our  salvation,  but  that  it  is  the  free  gift  of 
God.  And  if  by  faith  we  mean  not  the  acceptance  of 
creeds,  for  ''the  devils  also  believe  and  tremble"  and 
remain  devils  still,  but  a  full,  free,  volitional  and  filial 
surrender  to  God,  issuing  in  a  life  of  obedience  and 
trust. 

It  also  ought  to  be  remarked  that  the  recrudescence 
of  premillennialism,    with    its    proposed    cataclysmic 


164 PAPERS  BY  THE 

destruction  of  civilization  and  an  imperial  reign  of  a 
monarch,  has  nothing  in  common  with  a  spiritual  and 
moral  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  This 
vain  notion  is,  non-moral,  non-scriptural,  and  out  of 
harmony  with  the  whole  tenor  of  the  teachings  and 
life  of  Christ.  It  takes  no  account  of  the  great  modern 
faith  that  ''through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose 
runs",  a  faith  in  harmony  with  both  reason  and 
revelation. 

Note:     The  writer  is  especially  indebted  to  the  fol- 
lowing articles  and  books  for  material  in  this  paper: 
Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary— Salvation 
Easting's  Dictionary  of  Christ  and   Gospels — Sal- 
vation 

Hasting's  Dictionary  of  Religion  and  Ethics — Sal- 
vation 
"The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Salvation" — Stevens 
**A  Theology  for  the  Social  Gospel" — Rauschenbusch 
"Studies  in  Christianity" — Bowne 
"The  Social  Teachings  of  the  Prophets  and  Jesus" — 
Kent 
"The  New  Orthodoxy" — Ames 
''Social  Evangelism" — Ward 
"The  Proposal  of  Jesus" — Hutton 
"What  Must  the  Church  Do  to  Be  Saved"— Tittle 
"The  Reconstruction  of  Religion" — Ellwood 
"The  Fundamentals  of  Christianity" — Vedder 
"The  Social  Gospel  and  Personal  Religion" — Johnson 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN      105 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF  PRAYER 

SIDNEY  E.  SWEET 

Truth  is  unchangeable.  Our  understanding  of 
truth  varies  as  man  discovers  more  of  the  methods 
by  which  God  works,  and  our  application  of  truth 
varies  as  man  realizes  more  fully  the  purpose  for 
which  God  created  him.  The  earth  has  always  been 
round,  though  for  countless  centuries  man  was 
ignorant  of  this  fact.  Matter  has  always  been  kinetic, 
although  it  has  been  believed  to  be  static  by  most 
human  beings  who  have  lived  upon  the  earth.  The 
laws  of  the  world,  which  have  been  discovered  by 
scientists,  have  always  been  operating,  even  though 
unknown  or  dimly  understood  by  the  vast  majority  of 
the  human  race.  Thinking  that  things  are  so  does 
not  necessarily  make  them  so,  and  wrong  ideas  of  the 
world  do  not  alter  the  truth.  In  the  physical  world  it 
is  very  easy  to  see  this, — in  the  spiritual  world  it  is 
none  the  less  true,  though  it  seems  more  difficult  to 
make  the  truth  clear.  God  has  always  been  the  sam.e, 
although  men  have  held  varying  and  crude  ideas  of 
Him  during  the  centuries.  The  moral  lav/s  of  God 
are  unchangeable,  even  though  many  conceptions  of 
morality  have  existed  at  different  periods  in  history. 

The  value  of  prayer  has  not  changed.  It  has  been 
and  always  will  be  the  same  power,  but  man's  under- 
standing of  prayer,  as  of  other  great  forces  in  the 
world  has  enlarged  and  been  altered,  as  man  has 
learned  more  of  God  and  His  ways.  Therefore,  we 
shall  commence  our  study  of  the    Christian    idea  of 


106 PAPERS  BY  THE 

prayer,  by  emphasizing  the  importance    of  avoiding 
certain  mechanical  misconceptions  of  prayer. 

Prayer  is  not  a  miraculous  force  which  we  can  em- 
ploy to  persuade  God  to  break  the  laws  of  the  universe. 
We  do  not  pray  because  we  want  to  tell  God  how  to  run 
the  world.  If  we  are  Christians,  we  believe  in  an  in- 
telligent God,  who  has  made  the  laws  of  the  world  for 
the  good  of  mankind.  We  do  not  dare  to  think  that 
we  know  better  than  He  does,  how  to  direct,  control, 
and  operate  this  tremendous  universe.  It  would  be 
presumptuous  beyond  words  for  us  to  conceive  that 
the  purpose  of  our  prayers  is  to  coax  God  to  act  ac- 
cording to  our  judgment  rather  than  according  to 
His  own.  The  laws  of  the  world  were  made  by  One 
who  is  infinitely  v/iser  than  we,  and  it  is  for  us  to 
learn  these  laws  and  to  live  in  harmony  with  them. 
If  these  laws  ever  become  inoperative,  there  will  be 
chaos  and  destruction.  If  God  changed  the  laws  of 
the  world  in  an  arbitrary  manner  or  as  a  result  of 
the  pleading  of  His  children,  then  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  learn  God's  ways  and  methods  of  working, 
and  there  could  be  no  intellectual  progress  for  the 
human  race.  God  is  not  the  weak  parent,  who  for- 
sakes the  right  and  wise  course,  because  it  is  easier 
to  yield  to  the  teasing  of  a  child. 

And  when  I  have  emphasized  this  truth,  the  un- 
changeableness  of  God's  laws  because  God  is  an  in- 
telligent Being  and  a  personal  Being,  on  whom  we 
can  depend  to  act  in  the  same  way  under  the  same 
conditions,  because  of  His  infinite  wisdom  and  love, — 
then  it  is  apparent  that  there  is,  and  can  be,  no  real 
conflirt  between  Science  and  Religion.  It  is  the  busi- 
ness of  science  to  ejtp'eriment  and  discover  the  facts 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 107 

of  the  universe  and  the  laws  which  operate  in  the 
world.  It  is  the  business  of  religion  to  interpret  these 
facts  and  laws,  as  they  reveal  God,  and  as  they  dis- 
close the  way  in  which  men  can  best  live  together  in 
harmony  with  each  other  and  with  God.  The  scien- 
tist studies  processes  of  creation.  Religion  em- 
phasizes that  there  is  a  Personality  behind  these  pro- 
cesses, as  there  is  an  architect  behind  the  mechanical 
processes  of  house  building,  and  an  engineer  behind 
the  mechanical  processes  of  bridge  building.  Religion 
must  not  seek  to  hinder  the  discovery  of  the  scientific 
facts  of  the  universe,  for  by  so  doing  it  not  only  places 
itself  in  opposition  to  the  truth  which  is  of  God,  but  it 
also  makes  it  impossible  fully  to  know  God  and  His 
way,  which  is  the  purpose  of  religion.  Christianity 
and  Science  are  mutually  helpful.  Science  discovers, 
examines  and  classifies  facts,  and  thus  seeks  to  know 
the  universe  as  it  is.  It  is  an  imperfect  witness  be- 
cause its  investigations  are  incomplete  and  because 
there  is  danger  of  accepting  premature  conclusions. 
Both  of  these  imperfections  are  inevitable.  The  field 
is  boundless  and  the  application  of  scientific  methods 
to  the  study  of  it  has  just  begun.  Concerning  the  con- 
stitution of  men,  physical  and  mental  science  are  wit- 
nesses, biology,  physiology,  anthropology,  etc. ;  con- 
cerning the  universe,  natural  science  speaks  in 
geology,  astronomy  and  a  host  of  other  branches  of 
study.  It  is  not  the  business  of  religion  to  determine 
the  facts  of  the  universe — that  is  the  province  of 
science — ^but  when  the  conclusions  of  science  are 
established,  then  religion  must  receive  these  facts 
with  the  reverence  that  it  has  for  all  truth,  and  freely 
make  room  for  them  in  its  scheme  of  thought.  Science 
discovers  facts    by    means    of  experimentation.     Re- 


108 PAPERS  BY  THE 

ligion  evaluates  these  facts,  finds  the  meaning  of  them 
and  relates  them  to  the  life  of  men  and  God.  The 
more  science  learns  of  the  facts,  the  size  of  the  uni- 
verse, the  age  of  the  universe,  the  inter-relation  of  all 
the  facts,  the  larger  becomes  the  conception  of  God  in 
the  mind  of  the  Christian  and  the  more  humble  be- 
come the  scientists,  as  they  realize  how  much  they  do 
not  know.  The  more  that  scientists  learn  of  the  laws 
of  God  and  their  dependability,  the  better  for  religion. 
The  more  religion  interprets  these  laws,  so  that  men 
may  know  God  and  His  will,  the  better  for  scientists 
and  for  the  world.  So  we  stress,  first  of  all  that  God 
works  by  means  of  laws,  and  that  prayer  is  not  an 
effort  on  the  part  of  man  to  persuade  God  to  break 
these  laws  or  to  perform  miracles.  Prayer  is  not  our 
desire  to  establish  a  chaotic  condition  in  the  world  by 
stopping  the  operation  of  God's  laws,  nor  an  attempt 
to  inform  God  of  a  better  way  to  manage  His  creation. 
Rousseau  was  right  when  he  said  that  the  power  of 
prayer  is  limited  by  the  laws  of  the  physical  world. 

But  this  does  not  mean  that  there  is  less  value  in 
prayer  than  there  was  believed  to  be  by  our  ancestors. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  are  merely  beginning  to  real- 
ize the  importance  and  the  power  of  prayer.  In  an- 
cient times  men  prayed,  thinking  their  prayers  would 
avert  calamities  by  transforming  an  angry  God  into  a 
propitious  God.  If  the  prayers  could  be  said  often 
enough,  or  turned  around  often  enough  on  a  wheel, 
they  believed  God's  wrath  might  be  appeased  to  some 
limited  extent.  They  knew  little  about  the  laws  of 
the  world  and  less  about  the  law  of  prayer,  little  about 
the  universe  and  less  about  God.  Now  Christians  do 
not  pray,  because  they  fear  God,    nor    because  they 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 109 

consider  all  evil  an  evidence  of  His  wrath,  nor  be- 
cause they  think  He  is  a  terrible  deity  seeking  to  pun- 
ish them,  nor  because  they  desire  to  have  God  work 
miracles  for  their  benefit,  nor  because  they  doubt  the 
wisdom  of  God  or  His  goodness. 

The  Christian  idea  of  God  is  that  God  is  an  intel- 
ligent, loving  spirit,  who  is  best  described  by  the  term 
Father,  when  in  that  term  we  combine  all  the  good 
and  noble  elements  of  the  ideal  parent ;  and  the  Chris- 
tian idea  of  prayer  is  that  it  is  the  communion  of  the 
child  of  God  with  His  Father.  Prayer  is  fellowship 
with  God.  When  one  considers  the  prayers  of  Jesus 
and  the  times  when  He  went  apart  to  pray,  he  is 
impressed  by  the  naturalness  of  prayer  in  Jesus'  life 
and  the  reality  of  prayer.  Jesus  turned  to  God  in  the 
times  of  difficulty,  in  the  face  of  crises,  just  as  the 
normal  boy  of  today,  who  has  been  made  to  feel  that 
his  father  is  his  best  friend,  turns  to  his  father.  He 
went  to  God  for  advice  and  comfort.  He  went  to  God 
just  to  talk  things  over  with  Him.  He  went  to  God 
because  there  was  no  companionship  which  meant  so 
much  to  Him.  It  was  a  joy  to  be  with  God  and  to 
carry  on  a  conversation  with  Him,  to  tell  Him  every- 
thing, and  then  to  listen  to  Him;  to  realize  His  sym- 
pathy and  interest  in  all  the  affairs  of  His  life,  and  to 
learn  His  will.  So  prayer  to  Jesus  was  communion 
with  God,  and  the  Christian  idea  of  prayer  must  be 
the  same  as  the  idea  in  the  mind  of  the  founder  of 
Christianity,  that  prayer  is  the  fellowship  of  man 
with  His  loving  Father. 

The  value  of  prayer,  which  follows  from  this  con- 
ception, is  three  fold: 

First,  the  benefit  to  the  person  who  prays. 


110 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Second,  the  good  which  is  accomplished  for  others. 

Third,  the  joy  and  help  given  to  God. 

First,  then,  we  consider  the  benefit  of  prayer  to  the 
person  who  prays.  Modern  science  has  made  it 
easier  to  enter  into  communion  with  God,  because  it 
has  eliminated  some  of  the  complexes  which  have  ren- 
dered it  difficult  for  men  to  understand  how  God  could 
be  reached  bytheir  words  or  thoughts.  As  we  begin 
dimly  to  perceive  how  sound  traverses  the  air  in 
waves,  and  how  thoughts  are  transferred  without 
material  media,  perhaps  on  some  similar  waves,  we 
find  it  comparatively  simple  to  believe  that  God  is  able 
to  understand  our  messages.  He  needs  no  amplifiers 
or  receivers.  His  spiritual  ear  is  attuned  to  receive 
our  thought  messages  sent  forth  as  prayers. 

Many  of  the  greatest  psychologists  of  our  day  now 
maintain  that  thought  transference  is  a  demonstrated 
fact,  a  truth  capable  of  scientific  proof,  and  already 
proven.  If  spirit  can  speak  with  spirit  on  earth  with- 
out material  means  of  communication,  then  the  Chris- 
tian idea  of  prayer,  which  is  the  communication  of 
man,  a  spirit,  with  God,  a  spirit,  is  not  only  a  matter 
of  faith,  but  supported  by  scientific  discovery  of  truth. 
Man  communes  with  His  Father,  and  what  is  the  re- 
sult as  far  as  the  man  is  concerned?  First,  he  grows 
like  the  Father  with  whom  he  associates.  An  old 
adage  says,  you  can  know  a  man  by  the  company  he 
keeps.  Hawthorne  made  very  clear  that  the  man 
who  looked  constantly  at  the  great  stone  face,  admired 
it,  loved  it,  and  grew  to  resemble  it.  Psychologists 
have  stressed  this  same  truth  and  have  scientifically 
explained  how  our  impressions  are  sunk  into  our  sub- 
conscious minds  to  mould  our   lives:  how   our  ideals 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 111 

tend  to  be  realized;  how  the  things  we  hear  are  not 
forgotten;  how  all  our  associates  effect  us.  So  if  a 
man  is  in  conscious  fellowship  with  God,  he  will  grow 
more  like  Him.  He  will  begin  to  have  God's  point  of 
view,  to  see  things  as  God  sees  them.  He  will  listen 
to  God  as  well  as  talk  to  Him,  and  will  come  to  under- 
stand God's  will,  God's  sympathy,  God's  power  and 
God's  love.  He  will  know  better  what  he  ought  to  do 
and  will  have  received  power  to  do  it.  He  wii'l  see 
what  is  wrong  or  petty  in  his  own  life  and  try  harder 
to  overcom.e  it.  He  v^ill  conquer  the  fears  that  have 
cursed  his  life  and  the  worries  that  have  drained  his 
strength.  He  will  face  trials  with  tranciuility,  know- 
ing God's  power  and  constant  helpfulness;  he  will 
triumph  over  sorrows  because  of  the  knov/ledge  of 
God's  goodness  and  love.  He  will  have  a  real  faith 
and  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  will  be  filled  with  a  moral  passion 
for  usefulness  which  will  make  him  a  new  man  in  his 
service  to  mankind.  "Prayer  opens  the  channels 
through  which  God  reaches  the  human  soul  with  guid- 
ance, comfort  and  quickening  power."  In  all  ages  it 
has  had  indescribable  value  for  the  life  of  man,  but 
it  seems  as  if  the  personal  value  of  prayer  is  even 
larger  than  ever  in  these  days  of  haste  and  trouble, 
when  man  needs  at  times  to  shut  out  the  distractions 
of  the  world,  for  it  is  by  communion  with  God,  that  we 
come  to  know  God  and  His  love,  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
sibilities, our  fellow  men  and  our  duty  to  them,  the 
problems  of  the  world  and  their  solution. 

But  not  only  has  prayer  such  value  for  those  who 
pray,  making  them,  m.ore  like  God,  it  is  also  a  great 
power  by  which  good  is  accomplished  for  others.     It 


112 PAPERS  BY  THE 

is  a  force  in  the  world,  operating  by  the  will  of  God,  a 
force  as  real  as  any  other  force,  a  law  of  God,  with 
certain  conditions  determining  its  effectiveness.  It 
has  value  for  our  homes,  our  communities,  our  world. 
It  has  power  to  break  down  prejudices,  to  remove  bar- 
riers, to  overcome  the  causes  of  industrial  unrest  and 
national  conflicts.  We  may  not  be  able  to  analyze  it, 
any  more  than  we  can  analyze  electricity  or  gravita- 
tion, or  the  greater  force  of  love,  but  as  other  forces 
are  described  by  their  results,  so  the  effects  of  prayer 
have  been  seen  through  the  ages  and  are  as  real  as 
the  effects  of  other  forces.  As  yet  we  know  less  about 
it  than  we  shall  know,  because  we  have  not  given 
enough  time  and  thought  to  the  study  of  spiritual  laws, 
and  only  a  few  of  the  great  economists  and  scientists 
have  realized  that  the  progress  of  civilization  depends 
upon  mental  and  spiritual  law  even  more  than  on 
physical.  Mr.  Fosdick  has  pointed  out,  that  God  can- 
not build  bridges  without  the  cooperation  of  men,  and 
that,  just  as  there  are  things  which  God  cannot  ac- 
complish if  men  will  not  use  their  minds  and  hands  to 
assist  Him,  so  there  are  things  which  God  cannot 
bring  about  unless  men  use  their  higher  spiritual 
powers  to  aid  Him.  Men  must  pray  if  they  desire  the 
coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  power  of  their 
prayers  will  produce  results  in  righteousness  and 
brotherly  love. 

If  it  is  true,  as  so  many  psychologists  assert,  that 
our  thoughts  effect  others,  how  much  more  must  our 
prayers  influence  them  and  their  lives,  for  at  least 
prayers  combine  our  thoughts  and  God's  thoughts,  at 
least  our  prayers  not  only  mean  that  our  attention  is 
turned  tov/ard  others,    but    that    new    channels    are 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 113 

opened  through  which  God  can  express  His  love.  For 
although  it  is  true  that  God  always  wills  what  is  good 
for  all  his  children,  yet  some  of  that  good  is  not  real- 
ized because  of  the  ignorance,  the  neglect,  or  the  sin  of 
men.  As  men  know  God's  physical  laws  better  and 
work  with  Him  more,  the  happiness  and  welfare  of 
man  increase,  so,  as  men  know  the  laws  of  prayer  bet- 
ter and  use  the  power  of  prayer,  God  is  able  with  this 
cooperation  to  improve  the  world  and  to  hasten  the 
triumph  of  love. 

I  must  not  take  the  time  to  dwell  at  length  upon  the 
laws  of  prayer,  the  conditions  essential  to  the  most 
effective  prayer,  but  surely  there  are  laws  governing 
prayer,  which  we  need  to  know  if  we  would  use  this 
great  force  for  the  greatest  good  to  ourselves  and  to 
the  world.  For  example,  if  we  are  to  pray  most  help- 
fully, there  must  be  no  hatred  or  bitterness  in  our 
hearts.  Malice  seems  to  break  connections  with  God. 
We  must  concentrate  our  minds  on  God,  and  pray  in 
the  name  of  Christ,  wliich,  I  take  it,  does  not  mean 
that  we  shall  mechanically  repeat  the  phrase  "in  the 
name  of  Jesus",  but  that  we  shall  have  the  spirit  which 
He  had  toward  men  and  God,  when  we  pray.  As  we 
develop  our  complete  love  for  our  brothers  and  our 
Father,  we  increase  the  power  of  our  prayers.  So 
prayer  is  not  only  of  value  to  those  who  pray,  but  it  is 
also  a  power  which  produces  results  in  the  world 
around  us,  and  in  the  lives  of  others  for  whom  prayers 
are  offered.  These  results  are  in  accord  with  the  law 
and  plan  of  God,  and  themselves  depend  upon  certain 
conditions  v/hich  we  knew  to  some  extent.  Prayer 
does  not,  therefore,  contradict  science,  but  like  other 
forces  needs  to  be  studied,  understood,  and  applied  so 


114 PAPERS  BY  THE 

that  the  greatest  good  may  be  accomplished  by  har- 
nessing and  using  it. 

Finally,  prayer  brings  joy  to  God  and  helps  Him  in 

His  work  of  making  the  Kingdoms  of  this  world  into 

a  Kingdom  of  brotherhood  and  love.    It  has  no  doubt 

pleased  God  to  have  men  discover  coal  and  how  to  use 

it,  even  as  He  planned ;  it  has  given  Him  pleasure  that 

men  have  learned  as  much  as  they  have  about  steam 

and  electricity,  and    have    increased    the    amount  of 

human  comfort  and  happiness  by  using  these  forces 

according  to  His  laws  and  design.    On  the  other  hand 

it  has  brought  grief  and  pain  to   Him,   whenever  the 

things  or  forces  which  He  created  have  been  used  for 

selfish  ends,  whenever   through    ignorance,    greed  or 

lack  of  brotherly  love,  evil  and  suffering  have  been 

caused  to  men  instead  of  good  and  happiness.    In  like 

manner  it  brings  joy  to  God  when  the  great  power 

of  prayer  is  used  by  His  children  to  help  Him  in  His 

great  work  of  establishing  here  on  earth  a  Kingdom 

of  justice  and  love,  and,  may  I  say  also,  it  brings  joy 

to  God  from  a  personal  standpoint. 

Again  just  as  the  earthly  Father  delights  to  have 
his  children  come  to  him  to  talk  things  over  with  him, 
to  tell  him  of  the  daily  experiences  and  interests,  to 
seek  advice  and  help,  so  joy  is  brought  to  the  heart  of 
God  when  His  children  commune  with  him,  and  take 
time  for  periods  of  real  fellowship  with  him. 

The  Christian  idea  of  prayer  is,  therefore,  a  larger 
conception  than  that  which  has  been  held  by  any  pre- 
Christian  or  non-Christian  people  because  it  is  based 
on  a  higher  conception  of  God  and  means  the  most  in- 
timate feilloWsihip  with  Him.     It  includes  all  that  w^s 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN     115 

noble  in  the  older  ideas  of  prayer,  is  in  no  way  op- 
posed to  science  but  is  supported  by  scientific  dis- 
coveries and  truth,  and  is  of  limitless  value  to  the  in- 
dividual, to  society  and  to  God  himself.  If  perchance 
you  are  one  who  has  neglected  the  use  of  this  great 
force,  may  you  know  even  now,  that  though  God  loves 
you  and  all  his  children  at  all  times,  yet  He  can  ex- 
press His  love  differently  when  you  turn  to  Him,  and 
He  sees  your  willingness  to  seek  His  advice  and  carry 
out  His  purposes  for  your  life.  May  you  learn  to  pray 
and  thus  discover  one  of  the  greatest  of  God's  ways  of 
giving  to  His  children,  peace,  inspiration  and  power. 


116 PAPERS  BY  THE 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF  THE  CHURCH 

HAROLD  COOPER 

In  that  delightful  novel  *lf  Winter  Comes" 
there  is  a  significant  conversation  recorded  between 
two  of  the  characters. 

''Hapgood,  the  remedy  is  the  old  remedy.  The  old 
God.  But  it  is  more  than  that.  It's  light — more  light! 
The  old  revelation  was  good  for  the  old  world,  but  we 
want  light,  light !  Do  you  suppose  an  age  which  knows 
wireless  and  can  fly  is  going  to  find  spiritual  suste- 
nance in  the  food  of  an  age  which  thought  thunder  was 
God  speaking?  Man's  done  with  it.  It  means  nothing 
to  him;  it  gives  nothing  to  him.  "Man  cannot  live  by 
bread  alone"  say  the  churches,  but  he  says  "I  am  liv- 
ing on  bread  alone  and  doing  well  on  it."  But  I  tell 
you,  Hapgood,  that  plumb  down  in  the  crypt  and  abj^ss 
of  every  man's  soul  is  a  hunger  for  other  food  than 
this  earthly  stuff.  And  the  churches  know  it.  And  in- 
stead of  reaching  down  to  him  what  he  wants — light, 
light — instead  of  that  they  invite  him  to  dancing  and 
to  picture  shows,  and  you're  a  jolly  good  fellow,  and 
religion  is  a  jolly  fine  thing  and  no  spoil-sport,  and  all 
that  sort  of  latter-day  tendency.  He  can  get  all  of  that 
outside  the  church  and  get  it  better.  Light,  light, — he 
wants  light,  Hapgood.  And  the  padres  come  down  and 
drink  beer  with  him,  and  watch  boxing  matches  with 
him,  and  sing  music  hall  songs  with  him,  and  dance 
jazz  with  him,  and  call  it  ''making  religion  a  living 
thing."  And  there  is  no  God  there  that  a  man  can  un- 
derstand to  be  lifted  up  to.    Hapgood,  a  man  wouldn't 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 117 

care  what  he  had  to  give  up  if  he  knew  he  was  making 
for  something  inestimably  precious.  But  he  doesn't 
know.  Light,  Light — that's  what  he  wants.  And  the 
longer  it  is  withheld  the  lower  he  will  sink.  Light — 
light!   Who  can — who  will — give  us  light?" 

Now  this  is  a  criticism  worth  thinking  about  in  any 
discussion  of  the  "Christian  idea  of  the  church."  It 
raises  the  question  as  to  what  the  church  is  and  what 
Jesus  meant  for  His  disciples  to  accomplish. 

Another  cry  of  protest  is  found  in  "Painted  Win- 
dows"— that  severe  criticism  of  English  Christianity 
by  the  author  of  "Mirrors  of  Downing  Street".  The 
author  is  describing  Father  Knox,  who  has  left  the 
Anglican  Church  and  gone  over  to  the  church  of  Rome. 
This  Father  Knox  has  written  a  book  and  of  it  the 
critic  says : 

"One  is  never  conscious,  not  for  a  single  mo- 
ment that  Father  Knox  is  writing  about  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  Gethsemane,  Calvary.  About  a 
Church;  yes;  about  ceremonials,  about  mys- 
terious rites,  about  prayers  to  the  Virgin 
Mary,  about  authority  and  about  Bishops. 
Yes,  indeed!  But  about  Christ's  transvalua- 
tion  of  values ;  about  His  secret ;  about  His  re- 
ligion of  the  pure  heart  and  childlike  spirit — 
not  one  single  glimpse." 

So  first  of  all  in  discussing  the  Christian  idea  of  the 
Church  let  us  approach  it  from  the  negative  side  and 
state : 

First  of  all:  The  church  is  not  a  fire  escape.  It  is  not 
a  sort  of  insurance  which  guarantees  future  bliss  in 


118 PAPERS  BY  THE 

some  other  world.  Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  am 
not  denying  that  in  Christ  we  have  the  assurance  of 
immortal  bliss.  That  is  too  great  a  truth  to  be  denied. 
But  I  would  ask :  Is  the  church  merely  a  ladder  from 
earth  to  heaven?  Can  you  imagine  anything  more 
selfish  than  that  ?  Can  you  think  of  anything  more  for- 
eign to  the  spirit  of  Christ  than  that?  How  different 
that  is  to  the  example  of  Jesus.  He  ministered  to  the 
poor.  He  healed  the  sick.  He  touched  the  leper.  And 
when  he  sent  out  His  disciples  He  sent  them  to  be 
good  Samaritans  to  needy  travellers.  No!  the  church 
is  not  a  fire  escape,  or  a  heavenly  insurance  company 
even  though  thousands  around  us  seem  to  think  it  is. 

Secondly/:  The  Christian  view  does  not  limit  the 
church  by  the  bounds  of  any  denomination.  Sectarian- 
ism is  not  even  a  by-product  of  the  Christian  spirit.  It 
is  a  parasite  which  has  hindered  the  growth  of  the 
true  church  of  Christ.  Christianity  is  a  living  thing 
far  too  vigorous  to  remain  within  the  shell  of  a  local 
sect.  How  amazing  it  must  be  to  the  Master  to  see  His 
disciples  organized  into  such  a  variety  of  groups.  Even 
the  heathens  smile  at  those  fifty-seven  varieties  of 
Christianity  when  presented  to  them  on  the  foreign 
field.  No!  The  Christian  idea  of  the  church  does  not 
limit  it  to  any  denomination. 

Thirdly:  The  Christian  idea  of  the  church  is  not 
that  of  a  system  or  a  ritudl.  Rather  is  it  a  spirit.  This 
complex  and  highly  organized  Christianity  of  the 
Twentieth  Century  seems  far  removed  from  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  New  Testament  and  the  Gospels.  Father 
Knox  may  build  up  his  system  in  the  Romish  Church 
but  as  for  me  and  my  house  we  will  find  consolation  in 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 119 

the  simple  spirit  of   the    Master  as    revealed  in    the 
Gospels. 

V/HAT,  THEN,  IS  THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF 
THE  CHURCH? 

First :  The  Church  is  a  brotherhood  of  men  who  be- 
lieve in  soul  values  expressed  in  service  to  others.  That 
these  soul  values  may  be  realized  and  this  service  made 
effective  they  have  organized.  Out  of  this  organization 
has  arisen  the  finest  fellowship  the  world  has  ever 
known.  The  emphasis  of  the  Occident  has  been,  and 
still  is,  a  material  emphasis.  Houses  and  lands.  Dia- 
monds and  automobiles.  These  be  thy  Gods,  0  Israel. 
Again  and  again  modern  psychology  has  called  us  to 
realize  that  the  real  values  are  soul  values.  Even  the 
church  has  caught  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  age. 
Numbers  and  organization.  Numbers  and  organiza- 
tion. These  be  thy  Gods,  0  Israel.  But  Jesus  taught  us 
that  the  greatest  impulses  of  life  are  soul  impulses. 
And  the  church  is  a  brotherhood  of  men  who  realize 
these  values  of  the  gpirit.  To  conserve  that  spirit  or- 
ganization is  necessary.  But  only  as  secondary,  not  cf 
primary  importance.  Read  your  gospels.  Study  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Can  you  find  anywhere  else 
such  emphasis  on  spiritual  values?  People  tell  us  that 
we  need  the  gospel  of  India  in  America  today.  Bring 
the  Swamis,  or  Hindu  teachers  from  that  land  of  mys- 
ticism and  meditation.  Let  the  best  of  Hinduism  be 
accepted.  But  listen  to  me,  there  is  nothing  in  their 
spiritual  emphasis  which  cannot  be  found  in  Christ's 
teachings.  And  when  you  have  found  the  best  that  the 
Orient  has  to  offer,  you  v/ill  find  a  great  deal  in  addition 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 


120 PAPERS  BY  THE 

"Perceiv'st  thou  not  the  change  of  day? 
Ah !  carry  back  thy  ken. 
What,  some  two  thousand  years.  Survey 
The  world  as  it  was  then. 

Like  ours  it  looked  in  outward  air ; 

Its  head  was  clear  and  true ; 
Sumptuous  its  clothing,  rich  its  fare, 

No  pause  its  action  knew. 

On  that  hard  Pagan  world  disgust 

And  secret  loathing  fell 
Deep  weariness  and  sated  lust 

Made  human  life  a  hell. 

In  his  cool  hall,  with  haggard  eyes 

The  Roman  noble  lay ; 
He  drove  abroad  in  furious  guise 

Along  the  Appian  way. 

He  made  a  feast,  drank  fierce  and  fast 
And  crowned  his  hair  with  flowers — 

No  easier  nor  no  quicker  passed 
The  impracticable  hours. 

The  brooding  East  with  awe  beheld 

Her  impious  younger  world. 
The  Roman  tempest  swelled  and  sv/elled 

And  on  her  head  was  hurled. 

The  East  bowed  low  before  the  blast 

In  patient,  deep  disdain; 
She  let  the  legions  thunder  past. 

And  plunged  in  thought  again. 

So  well  she  mused,  a  morning  broke 

Across  her  spirit  gray; 
A  conquering  new-born  joy  awoke 

And  filled  her  life  v/ith  day. 

*Toor  world,"  she  cried,  "so  deep  accurst 
That  run'st  from  pole  to  pole, 
To  seek  a  draught  to  slake  thy  thirst. 
Go.  Seek  it  in  thy  soul! 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 121 

Second : 

The  church  is  a  brotherhood  of  servants 
George  Eliot  created  the  character  of  Felix  Holt,  the 
radical,  who  took  up  his  parable  against  the  churches 
and  parsons  saying:  "The  aristocrats  supply  us  with 
our  religion  like  anything  else  and  get  a  profit  on  it. 
They'll  give  us  plenty  of  heaven.  We  may  have  land 
there.  But  we  will  offer  to  change  with  them.  We  will 
give  them  back  some  of  the  heaven  and  take  it  out  in 
something  for  us  and  our  children  in  this  world."  Felix 
Holt  was  a  radical  when  he  uttered  that  word  forty 
years  ago.  But  would  he  be  counted  a  radical  today? 
Hardly!  We  have  come  to  see  how  revolutionary  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  are.  Listen:  ''I  am  among  you  as 
one  that  serveth."  His  disciples  are  simply  those  who 
are  banded  together  as  a  brotherhood  of  servants. 
There  was  no  mistaking  what  Jesus  meant.  Call  to 
mind  that  scene  in  the  upper  room  when  Jesus  rose 
from  supper  and  girded  Himself.  Taking  a  towel  and 
basin  He  commenced  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet.  Lis- 
ten to  His  words:  "Know  ye  what  I  have  done  to  you? 
Ye  call  me  Master  and  Lord ;  and  ye  say  well ;  for  so  I 
am.  If  I  then,  your  Lord  and  Master,  have  washed 
your  feet,  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet.  For 
I  have  given  unto  you  an  example."  No  literal  inter- 
pretation touches  the  truth  of  this  incident.  Here  is  a 
Matterhorn  of  truth  in  the  doings  and  teachings  of  our 
Lord.  We  are  servants  of  society.  That  is  what  dis- 
cipleship  means. 

Let  me  make  a  comparison  between  the  Hon.  G.  K. 
Gokhale,  a  Hindu  of  Poona,  India,  and  an  Ohio  man 
who  shall  be  nameless.  Mr.  Gokhale  is  the  founder  of 
the  "Servants  of  India  Society."  Its  members  are  uni- 


122 ___.. PAPERS  BY  THE! 

versity  graduates  who  follow  their  leader  in  serving 
society.  For  this  service  they  receive  about  ten  to 
seventeen  dollars  a  month.  Just  enough  to  keep  body 
and  soul  together.  Wherever  there  is  need,  there  they 
go.  Is  there  a  famine  somewhere  ?  There  you  will  find 
the  members  of  the  ''Servants  of  India  Society."  Even 
the  Mahatma  Gandhi  has  signified  his  intention  of 
working  under  this  organization. 

Now  let  us  look  at  our  Ohio  friend.  His  chief  object  in 
life  is  to  make  money  and  he  has  succeeded  very  well. 
He  believes  that  the  world  is  going  to  v/ind  up  soon  in 
a  great  and  glorious  catastrophe,  and  he  shouts  'Traise 
the  Lord."  Why  not?  Isn't  he  going  to  wear  a  starry 
crown  and  walk  on  streets  of  gold.  He  likes  to  tickle 
his  hands  with  gold  here,  but  just  think  of  walking 
on  it.  It  greatly  worries  him  because  he  thinks  that  we 
ministers  are  not  preaching  the  gospel.  But  not  one 
thing  does  he  do  in  service  for  others.  He  has  bled  the 
community  for  self,  but  never  put  anything  back  into 
it  either  in  money  or  service.  Selfish — as  selfish  as 
the  devil.  Is  there  suffering  around  him?  He  knows  it 
not.  His  eyes  are  blinded  to  sorrow  by  the  light  of  this 
glorious  catastrophe  which  is  to  happen.  The  tragedy 
of  it  does  not  matter  to  him.  That  is  incidental.  Peo- 
ple are  going  to  get  what  is  coming  to  them.  And  he 
banishes  that  side  of  it  with  a  wave  of  the  hand. 

Which  of  these  two  men  have  realized  the  teachings 
of  Christ?  Methinks  that  the  Hindu  is  nearer  the 
Kingdom  of  God  than  our  Ohio  friend.  And  that  is 
the  Christian  idea  of  the  Church.  The  Church  is  a 
brotherhood  of  servants  which  could  be  called  the 
"Servants  of  Jesus  Society." 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 123 

Third : 

The  church  is  a  creator  of  moral  standards 

Take  the  world  situation  in  politics  today  into  your 
mind's  eye.  Look  at  that  conference  at  Genoa.  Re- 
member the  meeting  of  the  political  leaders  at  Versail- 
les. Recall  our  Washington  conference.  We  will  forget 
for  a  while  the  comment  of  Harold  Begbie  in  "Painted 
Windows" — when  he  says:  "The  successors  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  are  not  at  the  Washington  Conference, 
they  are  too  busy  organizing  whist  drives  and  opening 
bazaars."  Look  rather  at  the  blending  of  idealism  and 
realism  in  those  international  conferences.  See  how 
selfishness  and  greed  rise  demanding  utterance.  Watch 
France  as  she  demands — what?  What  is  she  trying  to 
do?  See  on  the  other  hand  the  figure  of  Secretary 
Hughes  making  that  astounding  proposal  for  the  re- 
duction of  navies.  Out  of  all  this  there  comes  the  im- 
pression of  good  and  evil  forces  fighting  for  suprem- 
acy. One  day  we  think  idealism  will  win,  the  next 
day  we  see  selfishness  in  the  saddle.  Chief  Justice 
Wang  of  China  has  said : 

"Nations  have  been  accustomed  to  deal  with 
one  another  in  a  manner  in  which  no  decent 
man  dares  to  deal  with  his  neighbors.  Ex- 
tortion on  the  part  of  an  individual  is  illegal 
and  immoral,  but  as  between  nations  it  is  dig- 
nified by  the  Latin  word  ultimatum.  It  seems 
futile  for  us  to  wish  for  peace,  if  nations  are 
not  prepared  to  raise  the  standard  for  mor- 
ality in  international  relations.  So  long  as 
nations  remain  morally  unreformed,  so  long 
there  will  be  wars  and  human  suffering.  *  *  * 
It  appears  to  me  that  by  promoting  a  closer 
bond  of  international  fellowship  many  causes 


124 PAPERS  BY  THE 

for  friction  and  misunderstanding  can  be  re- 
moved." 

(From  an  address  on  December  18,  1921.    The  speaker 
was  a  Chinese  delegate  to  the  Washington  Conference.) 

The  Near  East  is  like  a  human  chess  board.  The 
pawns  are  Armenians  and  Greeks.  The  Turk  plays 
the  game  and  orders  each  move  v^^hile  European  pow- 
ers occupy  the  galleries  as  spectators  and  speculators — 
each  one  jealous  of  the  other.  The  tragedy  of  the  game 
is  that  if  the  Christian  minorities  of  Asia  Minor  do  not 
play  the  game  they  are  consigned  to  the  bottomless  pit 
of  massacre. 

Has  not  the  Church  of  Christ  the  privilege  of  creat- 
ing a  moral  atmosphere  in  which  it  will  be  impossible 
for  such  selfishness  to  abound?  Apply  the  same  prin- 
ciple to  national,  state,  and  local  politics.  If  the  church 
does  not  voice  its  protest  against  graft,  who  will  ?  This 
is  not  a  question  of  partisan  politics  at  all.  It  is  the 
question  of  creating  moral  standards,  so  that  lower 
standards  of  political  life  shall  hide  ashamed  and 
afraid. 

The  same  is  true  in  relation  to  industry.  Our  hearts 
were  recently  cheered  by  Fosdick's  noble  utterance. 
'The  ministry  is  not  for  sale."  No,  before  high  heaven 
it  is  not,  even  though  the  manufacturers  of  Pittsburgh 
do  withdraw  their  subscriptions.  Thy  money  perish 
with  thee.  The  Christian  idea  of  the  Church  demands 
that  human  values  be  exalted  far  above  property  val- 
ues. Has  the  church  not  the  right  to  voice  its  ideals 
in  the  midst  of  a  steel  strike  or  a  coal  strike?  The 
church  is  a  creator  of  moral  standards  in  industry.  If 
not,  then  African  slavery  will  have  been  supplanted  by 
modern  industrial  slavery. 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 125 

One  of  the  humorous  things  of  life  is  to  be  found  in 
the  common  charge  that  these  social  teachings  are  not 
found  in  the  Bible.  A  man  says  to  me:  **I  believe  in 
the  Bible"  and  by  that  means  to  infer  that  the  Bible  is 
opposed  to  the  social  application  of  the  gospel.  Listen ! 
The  Bible  is  the  greatest  advocate  of  social  justice  in 
the  world  today.  The  old  prophets  of  Israel  would 
never  dare  to  return  to  America.  They  would  be  ar- 
rested for  teaching  Bolshevism.  They  were  not  Bol- 
sheviks, but  many  a  man  v/ho  is  teaching  similar  ideas 
is  charged  with  being  in  league  with  the  disturbers 
of  society  in  Russia. 

Micah  was  one  of  these  Old  Testament  prophets.  He 
says :  *'Woe  to  them  that  devise  iniquity  and  work  evil 
upon  their  beds  and  when  the  morning  cometh  they 
practice  it,  because  it  is  in  the  power  of  their  hands. 
And  they  covet  fields  and  take  them  by  violence;  and 
houses,  and  take  them  away.  So  they  oppress  a  man 
and  his  house."   That  is  a  graphic  picture. 

In  another  place  the  same  prophet  charges  the  same 
group  with  being  ready  to  pluck  the  skin  off  the  bones 
of  the  poor.  You  have  heard  the  expression,  "He  is  a 
skinflint.  He  will  skin  you  alive."  That  comes  from 
the  Bible.  The  exact  quotation  is  as  follows:  "Who 
pluck  off  their  skin  from  them,  and  the  flesh  of  my 
people;  and  they  break  their  bones  and  chop  them  in 
pieces."  If  any  one  tells  you  that  the  Bible  is  not  in- 
terested in  working  conditions  and  wages  ask  them  to 
read  what  Micah  has  to  say  on  that  subject. 

Micah  was  not  alone;  Zacchariah  is  just  as  emphatic 
a  preacher  of  social  justice.  "Thus  speaketh  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  saying:  'Execute  true  judgment  and  show 


126 PAPERS  BY  THE 

mercy  and  compassion  every  man  to  his  brother.  And 
oppress  not  the  widow,  nor  the  fatherless,  the  stranger 
nor  the  poor ;  and  let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  against 
his  brother."  Amos  cries  out:  "They  sold  the  righteous 
for  a  piece  of  silver  and  the  poor  for  a  pair  of  shoes. 
They  pant  after  the  dust  of  the  earth  on  the  head  of 
the  poor." 

These  are  not  isolated  texts  wrested  from  the  con- 
text. Not  at  all.  All  the  minor  prophets  speak  in 
this  strain  and  some  of  the  major  prophets  also.  Sit 
down  and  read  these  parts  of  the  Bible.  You  will  think 
that  the  prophets  are  pleading  for  a  minimum  wage 
for  women.  The  sweat  shop  cannot  live  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  Bible.  That  book  is  our  charter  of  liberty. 
Industrial  slavery  cannot  stand  the  light  of  the  Bible. 
The  Bible  is  the  book  of  social  justice. 

There  is  no  department  of  life  for  which  the  brother- 
hood of  servants  may  not  create  moral  standards.  The 
problem  of  the  movies  and  the  problem  of  the  break- 
down of  home  life  are  of  intense  interest  to  those  who 
have  enlisted  in  this  great  brotherhood.  "Preach  the 
gospel  and  let  industry  and  politics,  and  movies,  and 
marriage  and  divorce  alone,"  cries  the  obscurantist. 
And  I  answer  back,  that  is  the  gospel.  If  not,  take  the 
ordination  papers  which  you  gave  me  when  I  entered 
the  ministry  of  Christ.  You  have  made  them  only 
a  scrap  of  paper.  But  that  is  not  necessary,  for  the 
work  of  the  Christ  and  His  church  is  infinitely  greater 
than  some  people  would  have  us  believe.  It  is  the  work 
of  creating  standards  which  are  applicable  to  every 
department  of  life. 


Theological  seventeen 127 

Fourth : 

The  church  is  a  brotherhood 

This  has  been  hinted  at  but  let  me  now  emphasize  it 
more  fully.  Do  you  know  of  any  fellowship  quite  so 
large  and  real  as  this?  The  world  is  full  of  organiza- 
tions of  every  sort  and  kind.  The  Nineteenth  and 
Twentieth  Centuries  will  go  down  in  history  as  the 
organization  time  in  human  history.  Stop  the  average 
man  on  the  street  and  ask  him  as  to  his  fellowships. 
What  does  he  say?  "Yes,  I  am  a  Mason  and  an  Odd 
Fellow."  Any  other  order?  "Well,  there  is  the  Loyal 
Order  of  Moose  and  the  Elks  and  I  am  thinking  of  join- 
ing the  Noble  Order  of  Elephants.'*  Do  you  belong  to 
any  business  organization?  "Yes,  on  Tuesday  I  go  to 
the  Exchange  Club,  on  Friday  to  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
cerce  and  on  Wednesday  to  the  Civitans,  and  at  pres- 
ent they  are  voting  on  my  name  in  the  Optimist  Club, 
and  I  am  thinking  of  joining  the  Lions."  Is  that  all? 
"Yes,  I  think  it  is.  No,  I  have  my  membership  in 
the  Athletic  Club  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A."  Does  your  wife 
belong  to  any  fellowship  organizations?  "Does  she? 
Say,  man,  I  am  pretty  nearly  clubbed  to  death." 

But  listen  to  me !  In  spite  of  all  these  organizations 
I  want  to  state  that  the  greatest  fellowship  and  brother- 
hood of  them  all  is  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  Now 
let  me  bring  the  facts  to  support  that  assertion. 

Fact  No.  1.  Christianity  knows  no  race  division. 
It  is  for  all  colors  of  men.  Black,  red,  yellow,  brown 
and  white. 

Fact  No.  2.  It  knows  no  geographical  limitation.  It 
finds  a  home  in  America,  but  it  also  finds  a  home  in 
China,  Japan,  India,  Europe  and  the  islands  of  the  sea. 


12^  f>APERS  t?Y  THl^ 

Fact  No.  3.  It  is  for  the  rich  as  well  as  the  poor, 
and  for  those  who  are  between  the  two. 

Fact  No.  4.  It  is  for  the  educated  and  for  those  who 
have  not  seen  the  inside  of  a  school.  It  is  for  the  good 
and  it  is  for  the  bad.  The  saint  and  the  sinner.  It  is 
for  time  and  it  is  for  eternity.  It  is  for  the  child  and 
the  adult.  It  is  for  the  man  and  the  woman.  All  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men.  It  is  for  humanity.  Knock  and 
the  door  shall  be  opened.  No  secret  password  here. 
Come  unto  Me  all  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden  and 
I  will  give  you  rest.  All  other  fellowships  are  small  in 
comparison  with  the  fellowship  of  men  in  Jesus  Christ. 
It  fulfills  the  law  of  association.  Men  must  associate 
with  each  other.  Capital  organizes.  Labor  organizes. 
Business  organizes.  There  is  a  common  instinct  which 
drives  us  together.  And  towering  above  ail  these 
organizations  is  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  Not  as  a 
gymnasium  for  the  calisthenics  of  the  soul.  We  can- 
not be  religious  alone.  No,  it  is  a  brotherhood  founded 
by  Him,  who  was  a  brother  to  poor  fallen  humanity. 

Fifth: 

The  church  is  a  kingdom 

How  often  did  our  Master  speak  of  this  kingdom. 
Thy  kingdom  come.  The  kingdom  of  Heaven  is  like 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed.  If  he  saw  birds  and  flowers 
they  were  suggestions  to  his  mind  of  the  kingdom — 
children  in  the  market  place;  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men  caused  Him  to  speak  of  this  kingdom.  It  was 
the  uppermost  thought  in  His  mind.  The  church  of  this 
century  must  follow  her  Master  in  this  also.  We  are 
to  realize  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 129 

No !  The  church  is  not  a  fire  escape — nor  is  it  a  sys- 
tem or  ritual.  It  is  not  any  sect  or  denomination.  But 
it  is  a  brotherhood  of  men  with  spiritual  impulses.  It 
is  a  brotherhood  of  servants.  This  brotherhood  is  not 
a  beggar  in  human  society  but  a  creator  of  moral 
standards.  Standards  which  shall  govern  politics  both 
national  and  international.  Standards  which  shall  af- 
fect industry  in  steel  strikes  and  coal  strikes. 

The  church  is  a  brotherhood  which  for  fellowship  is 
unequalled.  It  is  bringing  the  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth.  This  brotherhood  is  united  in  one  great  leader 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Church's  one  foundation 
Is  Jesus  Christ  her  Lord ; 

Elect  from  every  nation. 
Yet  one  o'er  all  the  earth, 
Her  charter  of  salvation 
One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  birth ; 
One  holy  name  she  blesses, 
Partakes  one  holy  food. 
And  to  one  hope  she  presses, 
With  every  grace  imbued. 

'Mid  toil  and  tribulation, 
And  tumult  of  her  war, 
She  waits  the  consummation 
Of  peace  f orevermore  ; 
Till  with  the  vision  glorious 
Her  longing  eyes  are  blest, 
And  the  great  church  victorious 
Snail  be  the  church  at  rest. 


130 PAPERS  BY  THE 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IN   HIS  WORLD  — 
INTERNATIONALISM 

OLIVER  C.  WEIST 

When  we  know  what  a  Christian's  attitude  is  to- 
ward this  present  world,  we  know  something  of  his 
brand  of  Christianity. 

Some  have  said  this  world  is  evil,  therefore  flee  from 
it,  renounce  it.  And  to  save  their  souls  devout  men 
have  made  their  beds  in  the  desert,  or  entered  monastic 
walls. 

Others  say  this  world  is  hopelessly  corrupt,  that  it  is 
going  to  the  dogs;  but  any  attempt  on  the  part  of 
Christian  people  to  stop  it  is  dubbed  as  "mere  hu- 
manitarianism",  flaunting  God  in  the  face  and  an  evi- 
dence of  lack  of  faith  in  His  word.  "Things  must  get 
worse  before  they  can  get  better",  they  say.  "Christ 
is  coming  again  to  judge  among  the  nations.  Then, 
by  this  miraculous  intervention,  all  wrongs  will  be 
righted".  Rather  interesting  indeed,  were  it  not  so 
pitiful  and  dangerous — this  permillanarian  view. 

Closely  akin  to  this  is  the  attitude  expressed  by  the 
old  songs  we  used  to  sing:  "I  am  a  Pilgrim  and  a 
Stranger",  "Heaven  is  My  Home".  We  are  on  our 
way,  but  we  do  happen  to  know  where  we  are  going. 
Yet  the  way  is  through  a  strange  land.  But  the  pil- 
grim or  stranger  never  feels  any  great  responsibility 
for  the  condition  of  the  country  through  which  he 
travels.  He  is  glad  to  do  what  good  he  can  as  he  so- 
journs, but  it  is  all  "by  the  way". 

I  say  there  has  been  a  great  tendency  among  Chris- 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 131 

tians,  feeling  that  Christianity  and  the  world  are  ir- 
reconcilable, to  give  up  the  world.  On  the  other  hand, 
for  the  same  reason,  ethers  have  clung  tenaciously  lo 
the  world.  We  have  here  then  two  extremes.  Both 
agree  that  Christianity  and  this  present  world  are  set 
over  against  each  other,  that  they  cannot  be  recon- 
ciled. Tolstoi,  speaking  for  the  one  extreme,  says 
**Give  up  the  world".  Nietzsche,  spokesman  for  the 
second,  says  ''Give  up  Christianity".  It  has  been 
pointed  out  that  both  agree  in  another  thing — "both 
leave  the  world  untouched  by  the  power  of  Christian- 
ity". It  would  make  me  very  uncomfortable  were  I  a 
premillanarian  to  see  v^hat  company  I  had  to  keep  in 
holding  such  a  doctrine. 

Now  we  believe  that  there  is  a  "more  excellent  way". 
There  is  a  mean  between  these  extremes.  We  are  not 
forced  to  choose  between  these  two  horns  of  this 
dilemma.  There  is  a  more  wholesome  attitude  and 
this  is  expressed  in  our  general  subject:  "The  Chris- 
tian in  His  World" — in  the  world,  not  fleeing  from  it ; 
on  a  mission  and  not  on  a  holiday  trip ;  and  that  mis- 
sion not  to  save  one*s  self,  but  to  save  the  world. 

Now  it  is  not  hard  to  see  the  effect  this  "otherworld- 
ly" idea  has  had  upon  the  Bible.  It  makes  a  great 
difference  from  what  angle  or  background  you  ap- 
proach any  book,  particularly  the  Bible.  And  it  is 
plain  to  be  seen  that  approaching  even  the  New  Testa- 
ment from  this  "otherworldly"  viewpoint  much  of  it 
has  been  rendered  obsolete  and  impractical.  For  in- 
stance, the  Book  of  Revelation  is  as  little  read  today 
as  is  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  Progress.  Why?  Because  we 
have  been  taught  to  think  of  this  as  a  description  of 


,    132 ■ PAPERS  BY  THE 

the  life  beyond,  when  in  reality  the  writer  was  pic- 
turing, in  a  unique  way,  what  this  present  world  of 
ours  will  be  like  when  Jesus  Christ  conies  into  His 
own,  Lord  and  Master  of  society  as  well  as  of  in- 
dividuals. 

And  in  the  Gospels  Jesus  was  constantly  talking 
about  the  *'here  and  now."  "I  came  that  they  may 
have  life  and  may  have  it  abundantly".  *'Ye  are -the 
salt  of  the  earth".  This  is  not  my  comparison  but  His. 
Now  salt  usually  makes  a  difference,  unless  it  has  been 
stored  somewhere  with  the  lid  off.  But  salt  is  not  for 
storage ;  it  is  to  mingle  with,  flavor  and  preserve  that 
with  which  it  comes  in  contact.  To  this  Jesus  com- 
pares a  Christian.  He  is  not  for  storage,  or  to  be  set 
apart,  but  to  be  mixed  up — mixed  up  with  the  life  of 
this  world.  And  the. world  today  is,  in  truth,  a  mess 
that  sorely  needs  this  mixing  and  Christian  flavoring. 

.  I  think  if  you  search  for  a  reason  for  this  transfer- 
ing  of  portions  of  the  Sc?:iptures  to  celestial  realms 
and  why  afeo  some  are  waiting  for  the  Second  Coming 
and  wanting  a  comfortable  gospel  while  they  wait,  you 
will  find  it  frequently  in  the  desire  to  escape  the  duty 
and  obligation  of  this  mixing  up  process.  Little  won- 
der indeed  that  some  prefer  the  ''good  old  gospel". 
But  what  people  want  should  in  no  wise  be  allowed  to 
alter  the  New  Testament,  or  render  it  null  and  void. 
The  duty  of  social  redemption  cannot  be  read  out  of 
the  New  Testament  in  such  an  easy  manner. 

And  if  this  redemption  is  to  be  complete,  and  if  even 

the  individual  is  to  be  completely  saved,  it  means  that 

Jesus  is  to  be  indeed  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  which 

.    must  include  all  our  life  from  top  to  bottom.    Jesus 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 133 

came  to  save  a  world,  which  means  our  social,  cur 
commercial  and  industrial  life,  our  famib/,  state  and 
national  life.  It  takes  all  of  these  things  to  make  a 
world.  If  I  say  I  am  completely  saved  when  my 
home  is  not  thoroughly  Christian,  I  deceive  myself. 
But  how  can  my  heme  be  thoroughly  Christian  if  my 
city  is  dominated  by  Tammany  politics  and  principles? 
And  if  my  state  is  under  the  rule  of  Beelzebub,  what 
chances  are  there  for  my  city?  And  if  the  state  is 
CGTrupt,  how  shall  the  nation  escape?  "No  man  liveth 
to  himself*.  You  see  where  this  leads.  The  process 
cannot  stop  at  the  frontiers.  Borders  simply  cannot 
bound.  This  is  inevitable — a  man  can  never  be  wholly 
Christian,  somethin.^-  will  be  lacking,  and  so  on  up  the 
line,  until  Christ  the  Saviour  of  the  world  reigns 
supreme  in  the  affairs  of  the  nations. 

For  emphasis,  let  us  repeat,  as  Christians  we  are 
not  forced  to  choose  betv/een  these  two  extremes.  Who 
would  not  much  mere  prefer  our  own  Lincoln  to  either 
Tolstoi  or  Nietzsche?  One  dees  not  wonder  that  al- 
most every  sect  of  Christians  has  looked  upon  Lincoln 
as  the  great  Christian  and  would  claim  him  for  its 
own.  He  is  so  sane,  so  wholesomely  Cliristian.  Where 
is  expressed  a  more  Christian  attitude  toward  this 
present  v/orld  with  all  its  faults  and  short-comings 
than  these  immortal  v/ords:  "With  malice  tov/ard 
none,  with  charity  for  all,  v/ith  firmness  in  the  right  as 
God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  onward  to 
finish  the  work  in  v/hich  we  are  engaged,  to  do  all  that 
may  achieve  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  (notice) 
among  all  the  nations."  There  is  no  intimation  here 
of  "watchful  waiting'',  no  hint  here  of  the  couch  or  of 


134 PAPERS  BY  THE 

folded  hands.     Lincoln  was  a  true  Christian  and  as 
such  an  internationalist. 

Now  the  strange  thing  is  that  some  Christians  have 
quoted  their  Bible  to  justify  a  selfish,  unchristian, 
narrow,  nationalistic  spirit.  Of  course  we  know  the 
great  cause  of  selfish  jingoism  is  usually  to  be  found 
in  the  economic  life  of  the  people,  particularly  with 
the  nation  that  has  interests.  But  the  discouraging 
thing  is  to  see  anyone  go  to  the  Scriptures  to  support 
a  narrow  position  or  seek  there  for  authority  to  carry 
oat  some  selfish  design. 

But  if  the  Bible  is  all  on  the  same  level,  as  some  say, 
equally  authoritative,  then  I  have  no  choice  but  to 
believe  in  selfish  nationalism.  1  turn  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  there  it  is  plain  as  day.  Irvin  Bachellor  says 
that  much  of  the  Old  Testament  ''reads  like  a  report 
of  a  German  General  Staff.''  God  had  a  favorite  peo- 
ple, and  the  people  themselves  admitted  it.  Being  a 
chosen  people ;  they  at  times  chose  to  appropriate  other 
people's  property;  they  did  not  hesitate  to  begin  wars 
of  conquest  or  of  extermination ,;  nor  did  they  deem  it 
necessary  to  even  relieve  their  consciences  by  publish- 
ing "Blue  Books"  or  *'Red  Books".  They  stopped  at 
nothing  if  it  promised  to  add  something  to  their  "be- 
loved Israel";  they  loved  to  dream  of  a  time  when 
all  their  enemies  would  be  * 'dashed  to  pieces  like  a  pot- 
ter's vessel",  and  even  little  children  would  be  brained 
against  stone  walls. 

But  fortunately  all  is  ^lot  on  the  same  level  even  in 
the  Old  Testament.  Little  by  little  we  see  growing  up 
by  the  side  of  this  nationalistic  spirit  another,  a  lar- 
ger, nobler  spirit,  protesting  against  the  first.     Ezra 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 135 

and  Nehemiah  believed  in  ^'Israel  first" ;  but  the  Book 
of  Ruth  takes  a  despised  foreigner  as  its  heroine,  and 
moves  on  a  beautiful  plane  of  human  brotherhood. 
Even  Luther  in  his  day  was  so  much  of  a  Higher 
Critic  as  to  call  the  Book  of  Esther  a  "heathen  book ;" 
but  over  against  this  nationalism  can  be  placed  that 
wonderful  Book  of  Jonah,  with  its  superb  inter- 
nationalism fairly  blossoming  like  a — gourd. 

Yes,  as  that  race  grew  in  wisdom  and  in  greater 
favor  with  God,  we  find  the  true  prophets  protesting 
against  the  narrow  nationalistic  spirit  of  the  older 
days,  saying  that  the  chosen  nation  is  and  can  only  be 
the  righteous  nation.  God  is  the  God  of  the  Hebrews, 
but  on  one  condition — ^that  the  people  be  righteous. 
At  all  times  he  demands  justice  and  mercy  and  that 
men  walk  humbly  with  their  God. 

But  more  surprising  still  is  the  fact  that  men  have 
tried  to  justify  their  own  narrow  spirit  by  appealing 
to  the  New  Testament.  They  attribute  this  even  to 
Jesus  Himself.  "I  was  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  House  of  Israel."  He  said  to  His  disciples,  "Go 
not  into  any  way  of  the  Gentiles,  and  enter  not  into 
any  city  of  the  Samaritans".  They  say  He  made  only 
a  few  attacks  upon  the  social  abuses  of  His  day,  and 
when  it  came  to  the  broader  relations  He  was  ex- 
tremely vague.  One  of  the  few  instances  where  He 
seems  to  give  advice  concerning  governmental  affairs 
is  where  He  says,  "Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that 
are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's". 
But  here,  they  say,  He  was  a  great  side-stepper,  for 
the  question  still  remains,  "What  are  the  things  of 
Caesar  and  what  are  the  things  of  God?" 


136 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Well,  the  whole  trouble  has  arisen  out  of  the  pe- 
culiar way  we  have  of  dealing  with  the  Scriptures ;  our 
proof-text  method  is  chiefly  to  blame.  We  have  quoted 
texts  at  random  to  prove  our  point.  But  Christ  is  the 
Light  of  the  World,  even  as  He  said,  and  somehow  we 
are  allowing  that  light  to  shine  even  upon  His  own 
words,  and  we  are  beginning  to  see  the  way.  I  mean 
this:  you  can  quote  Jesus  on  both  sides  of  the  ques- 
tion of  war,  for  instance.  Yet  who  is  in  doubt  as  to 
Christ's  attitude  toward  this  even  in  our  day,  when  he 
faces  it  in  the  light  of  all  that  we  know  about  the  great 
Nazarene — His  life.  His  words,  ideals,  personality, 
spirit. 

Men  once  justified  slavery  by  the  proof -text  method 
or  scriptural  silences.  But  slavery  had  to  go,  nor 
could  even  Scriptural  quotations  save  it.  It  had  to 
go  because  years  ago  there  was  released  a  power  that 
it  could  not  withstand — the  love  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
the  hearts  of  men.  Today  we  are  seeing  that  same 
power  operate  against  war,  and  one  does  not  need  to 
be  a  prophet,  or  a  son  of  a  prophet,  to  say  that  war 
will  follow  slavery  to  the  scrap-heap.  It  is  inevitable, 
for  when  Jesus  set  forth  that  great  kingdom  idea — 
the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man, 
He  sounded  the  death  knell  of  war  and  all  things  like 
it.  More  than  that,  he  made  internationalism  as  cer- 
tain as  the  fact  that  day  follows  the  night. 

Jesus  was  supremely  interested  in  the  Kingdom. 
You  would  not  think  so  if  you  consulted  the  old  his- 
toric creeds  or  many  moth-eaten  sermons  of  the  past. 
But  even  when  the  Kingdom  was  mentioned,  it  was 
invariably  translated  to  celestial  realms    and   turned 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 137 

men's  minds  toward  the  skies.  But  Jesus  was  in- 
terested in  the  Kingdom  on  earth.  *Thy  will  be  done, 
as  in  heaven,  so  on  earth".  It  seems  strange  that  all 
through  these  years  the  literalist  has  not  taken  these 
words  literally.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  literalist 
only  when  it  suited  best.  Jesus  was  interested  in  the 
rule  of  God  here  and  now — the  rule  of  love  and  peace, 
justice,  righteousness,  goodwill.  He  spent  His  whole 
life  breaking  down  the  walls  that  separate  God's  peo- 
ple. He  gave  His  life  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  on 
earth. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  Master  gives  no  specific 
rules  about  international  relations,  yet  the  true  Chris- 
tian who  would  seek  the  truth  cannot  escape  His  teach- 
ings on  this  great  subject.  And  if  we  are  Christians 
we  cannot  but  share  His  interest  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  We  may  not  agree  upon  such  questions  as  the 
virgin  birth,  (indeed  it  makes  very  little  difference), 
but  we  must  agree  upon  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  the 
dominant  note  of  Christ's  teaching.  The  first,  Jesus 
never  mentions ;  the  other.  He  seldom  fails  to  mention. 
But  if  we  believe  in  that  Kingdom  ''on  earth  as  it  is 
in  heaven",  then  we  cannot  escape  a  belief  in  Christian 
internationalism,  and  pray  for  a  time  when  all  of  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  will  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord  and  His  Christ. 

Today  our  papers  are  fiHed  with  large  black  head- 
lines. Germany  and  Russia  have  spilled  the  fat  in  the 
fire  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  Genoa  Conference, 
and  somehow  the  flare-up  has  been  noticed  on  this 
side  of  the  waters.  Why  is  it  that  we  are  so  interested, 
and  that  the  news  fills  us  with  fear  and  dread?  One 
of  our  fears,  of  course,  is  that  the  work  of  our  own 


138 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Washington  Conference,  our  own  particular  foster 
child,  will  be  undone  unless  things  take  a  decided  turn 
in  Europe.  "While  we  assure  ourselves  that  there  is 
no  economic  peril  in  the  Russian  and  German  compact, 
yet,  nevertheless,  we  are  reminded  that  it  is  an  alliance 
of  hatred,  and  as  such  contains  great  political  peril". 
But  what  Christian  man  today  is  in  doubt  as  to  the 
real  cause  of  the  whole  trouble?  Who  doubts  that  the 
underlying  cause  today  dates  back  to  yesterday — 
yesterday  at  Versailles  when  Jesus  was  not  invited  to 
sit  at  the  Peace  Table,  and  when  the  Christian  method 
of  the  treatment  of  a  criminal  was  spurned  by  the 
nations  of  the  world  as  impracticable? 

Jesus  said  "I  am  the  way",  but  the  allies  have  tried 
another  way.  "When  yellow  fever  was  a  regular 
summer  visitor  to  our  southern  ports",  says  a  noted 
Quaker,  "men  tried  to  prevent  the  spread  of  that  great 
disease  by  the  means  of  a  shotgun  quarantine.  Boats 
coming  up  the  Mississippi  were  met  by  a  posse  of 
armed  men  at  every  wharf  who  refused  to  let  them 
land.  These  were  horrible  cases  forced  on  from 
wharf  until  the  boat  ran  ashore  unmanned.  The  shot- 
gun quarantine  was  no  more  effective  in  that  day  than 
in  our  day.  The  fever  usually  got  in  and  ravaged  the 
South  in  spite  of  the  quarantine.  But  when  Cuba 
happened  to  come  into  our  possession,  the  shotgun 
quarantine  was  out  of  the  question.  And  our  noble 
Waring  and  a  group  of  martyrs  in  the  medical  corps 
cleaned  up  Havana,  discovered  the  cause  of  the  spread 
of  the  yellow  fever,  and  not  only  saved  Havana  and 
Panama,  but  made  us  all  far  more  secure." 

How  like  this  shotgun  quarantine  is  the  method  of 
the  allies !     Is  it  any  wonder  that  we  are  fearing  and 


THEOLOGICAL    SEVENTEEN 139 

dreading  certain  political  diseases  today?  And  when 
shall  we  understand  that  the  policy  of  Christian  help- 
fulness, removing  the  possible  causes  of  disease,  war 
and  unrest  in  other  nations,  lessening  of  hatred,  sus- 
picion and  greed  of  others  toward  us,  will  not  only 
make  us  more  secure  from  danger,  but  will  save  the 
world?  When  shall  we  really  believe  that  ''in  none 
other  is  there  salvation,  for  neither  is  there  any  other 
name  under  Heaven  that  is  given  among  nicu,  where- 
in we  must  be  saved"? 

And  what  can  a  Christian  say  concerning  our  own 
national  policy,  particularly  as  he  looks  at  it  with  the 
mind  of  Christ?  There  is  a  picture  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment of  a  righteous  man,  but  it  is  far  from  the  New 
Testament  idea  of  righteousness.  Noah,  it  says,  was 
saved  because  he  was  righteous.  He  builds  an  ark  and 
into  safety  takes  his  wife,  their  sons,  and  their  wives, 
twice  four  and  no  more — and  then  he  shuts  the  door. 
But  no  one  believes  today  in  arks  of  safety,  unless  he 
happens  to  get  into  the  United  States  Senate.  The 
righteous  man  or  nation  cannot  go  apart  and  build  for 
his  own  safety.  The  righteous  man,  unlike  Noah,  is 
going  to  show  some  very  real  concern  for  those  who 
are  caught  in  the  seething  whirlpool  of  life.  The 
righteous  man  or  nation  is  the  one  that  is  willing  to 
lose  his  life  that  he  might  save  it. 

The  other  day  in  a  noted  speech  before  a  certain 
club,  an  aspirant  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate  said  that  the  main  question  before  the  world 
peace  was  an  economic  question.  He  was  interrupted 
by  a  minister  who  asked  if  he  did  not  also  think  that 
it  was  an  ethical  question.      His    reply   was   that  he 


140 PAPERS  BY  THE 

would  leave  the  ethical  questions  to  the  ministers. 
This  man  also  said  that  he  wished  Europe  well,  and  he 
hoped  she  might  prosper,  but  further  than  that  it  was 
none  of  our  concern.  He  is  willing  to  loan  money  to 
Europe,  "but  not  one  dollar  to  come  into  competition 
with  American  trade."  Yet  this  is  the  man  who  asks 
the  vote  of  the  Christian  people  of  America.  Was 
there  ever  a  better  example  of  the  Main  Street  mind? 

America  of  all  nations  ought  to  lead  in  this  Chris- 
tian internationalism.  We  have  had  a  noble  history. 
We  should  have  learned  much  from  our  past.  We 
should  have  learned  from  experience  that  Christ's 
way  is  the  only  way  to  live  peacefully  together  as 
nations.  In  a  small  way  we  have  tried  it.  We  made 
Japan  our  friend  by  Perry's  mission  of  peace.  We 
made  another  great  friend  in  the  Orient.  And  it  cost 
us  but  the  price  of  a  fourth-rate  battleship.  China 
and  Japan  will  ever  remain  our  friends  unless  we  our- 
selves violate  that  friendship  and  encroach  upon  their 
rightful  interests. 

The  Christian  Church  through  her  missionary 
movement  has  been  a  valuable  aid  in  developing  this 
international  mind.  Particularly  has  the  Church  done 
much  to  create  good  friendship  abroad.  But  in  recent 
years  we  have  come  to  learn  that  the  missionaries 
cannot  do  what  ought  to  be  done  in  these  countries 
unless  they  are  backed  up  by  Christian  statesmanship 
here  at  home.  Every  misionary  that  we  hear  speak 
is  bitterly  criticising  this  narrow,  nationalistic  spirit, 
that  is  so  prevalent  at  home  today. 

On  our  southern  border  there  is  a  country  in  dire 
need.    What  have  we  offered  her?    We  have  allowed 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN  141 

our  capitalists  to  exploit  her.  Our  corporations  have 
taken  over  some  of  her  wells  and  mines,  and  v^e  have 
grown  richer  and  richer  through  her  silver,  and  gold, 
and  copper.  In  return  we  have  offered  very  little  in- 
deed. The  result  is  that  Mexico  at  times  has  become 
a  thorn  in  our  flesh.  Now  and  then,  we  have  had  to 
send  soldiers  to  the  border  with  the  hope  of  removing 
the  thorn.  But  because  we  failed  to  send  a  Christian 
army  with  ideals,  we  have  had  to  send  an  army  of  sol- 
diers into  her  country,  which  cost  a  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  thousand  dollars  a  day — twice  as  much 
as  the  church  has  spent  in  one  year  in  missionary 
work  there.  The  shame  of  it  all!  As  a  Christian 
nation  we  are  forced  to  slaughter  these  people  because 
we  fail  to  send  that  which  makes  for  peace — a  knowl- 
edge of  Christian  principles  and  life.  Isn't  it  about 
time  for  Christian  people  in  America  to  speak,  to  in- 
sist upon  placing  a  Secretary  of  Peace  in  the  Presi- 
dent's Cabinet,  if  not  supplanting,  certainly  along- 
side of  the  Secretary  of  War?  We  are  so  ready  to  de- 
fend our  rights  and  protect  our  property  and  privi- 
leges !  We  have  all  the  machinery  ready  to  defend,  but 
practically  no  machinery  set  up  that  will  supply  the 
needs  of  others  or  make  for  peace.  We  still  send  sol- 
diers into  other  countries  to  do  peace  duty.  If  states- 
men are  going  to  leave  to  others  not  in  office  all  ethical 
and  Christian  questions,  then,  in  the  Name  of  God,  as 
Christians  let  us  see  to  it  that  such  men  are  not 
elected. 

Perhaps  one  reason  Christian  internationalism  has 
not  gripped  the  thought  of  our  people  more  than  it 
has,  is  because  of  those  who  have  advocated  it.  The 
best  way  to  teach  or  preach  Christianity  is  to  live  it. 


142 PAPERS  BY  THE 

Has  the  Christian  Church  lived  this  Kingdom  spirit 
before  the  state?  By  what  right  can  the  present 
church  preach  to  the  state  or  the  nations?  Can  the 
Christian  Church  preach  to  the  nation  and  still  prac- 
tice old  world  politics?  There  are  many  good  reasons 
why  I  should  quote  someone  else  on  this  subject.  I 
bring  you  the  words  of  a  Presbyterian,  Dr.  William 
Pierson  Merrill:  "If  the  Church  attempts  to  teach 
or  preach  the  need  of  international  order,  of  the  sub- 
ordinating of  irresponsible  nationalism  to  the  general 
welfare  of  humanity,  the  nations  can  retort  in  the 
words  of ^  Paul,  'Thou  therefore  that  teachest  another, 
teachest  thou  not  thyself?'  If  we  cannot  get  Pres- 
byterians and  Methodists  and  Baptists  and  Episco- 
palians together,  how  can  we  expect  great  states  to 
form  federative  unions,  or  correlate  their  political 
functions?  The  Church  must  either  be  silent  on  this 
great  matter,  the  greatest  moral  question  of  the  age, 
or  must  set  her  own  house  in  order,  so  that  she  can 
speak  peace  to  the  nations  in  the  Name  of  God  with  a 
united  voice." 

Finally,  the  Church  must  have  faith.  Suppose  we 
have  failed  in  this  our  first  attempt  at  national  family 
living,  nevertheless,  the  idea  is  right  and  right  must 
live.  "Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again."  Men 
may  kill  the  body  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul.  It 
was  not  an  easy  thing  in  the  days  of  our  Revolutionary 
Fathers  for  them  to  disarm  against  each  other  and  to 
form  that  constitutional  covenant  "to  provide  for  the 
common  defense  and  to  promote  the  general  welfare". 
And  because  it  is  more  of  a  task  in  our  day  than  in  the 
days  of  our  fathers,  there  is  all  the  more  reason 


THEOLOGICAL  SEVENTEEN 143 

that  we  should  put  forth  every  effort,  every  reason 
why  we  should  rise  to  meet  the  challenge. 

Following  then  the  example  of  our  fathers  who 
lived  in  their  world,  who  did  not  flee  from  it,  who  ac- 
cepted the  challenge  of  the  hour,  who  attempted  the 
impossible  in  their  day,  let  us  pray  and  test  our  spirit 
by  that  prayer,  *Thy  Kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven". 


"Do  We  Want  War  In  The  Far  East"?     Fosdick. 
"Is  Christianity  Practicable?"     Brown,    (Scribners), 
"Christian  Internationalism",   Merrill,    (McMillan). 
"Europe,  Whither  Bound?"     Graham,   (Appleton). 
"The  New  Social  Order",  Ward,   (McMillan). 


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